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Where is John Sweeney now?

Online Niel November 4, 2024

of Delia Balmer The chilling ordeal with a notorious serial killer is chronicled in the new ITV series Until I kill you. But where is John Sweeney now?

The four-part drama follows the true events of Delia’s life in the 1990s, when she meets construction worker John Sweeney in a pub in Camden, London. The pair began a relationship and he moved into her home, before he began abusing her emotionally and physically.

Delia finally broke up with John in 1994, before he broke into her home and held her captive for four days. He tied her to the bed, threatening her life with a gun and a knife, before admitting to killing one of his previous girlfriends – Melissa Halstead.

While Delia managed to escape and reported John to the police for kidnapping her, he was eventually released on bail when he tried to kill Delia with an axe. She managed to escape again after a neighbor attacked John with a baseball bat, before he went on the run for six years.

In 2001, he was reprimanded by the police and sent to court for the attempted murder of Delia.

What happened to John Sweeney?

After the attempted murder of Delia Balmer, John Sweeney managed to evade the police by living under various aliases and on the run for six years.

When he was finally arrested in 2001, he received four life sentences for her attempted murder and for having four guns in his possession when he was arrested.

where is john sweeney till i kill you now

ITV

Shaun Evans plays John Sweeney in Until I Kill You

In 2010, while serving a life sentence at Gartree Prison in Leicestershire, John was charged again with the murders of two former partners: Melissa Halstead, whose body was found in a canal in Rotterdam in 1990, and Patricia Fields, whose body was found. in Regent’s Canal in London’s Camden in 2001 – believed to have been killed while fleeing Delia’s attempted murder.

He was found guilty of both additional crimes in 2011 and sentenced to another life sentence. At the time, Mr Justice Saunders said (via BBC):

“These were terrible, vicious crimes. With the victims’ heads removed, it is impossible to be sure how they were killed. Mutilation of corpses is a serious aggravating feature of the crimes.

“Not only does it reveal the cold-blooded nature of the killer, but it has added greatly to the families’ distress to know that body parts of their loved ones have never been recovered. Why the murders took place I cannot be sure, but I am satisfied that this defendant controls his relationships with women and, horrifyingly, that control extends to deciding whether they should live or die.

“I have no doubt that the seriousness of these offenses is exceptionally high and a life sentence is the appropriate sentence.”

itv's true horror story is till i kill you

ITV