Until I Kill You on ITV tells the chilling true story of Delia Balmer's toxic relationship - and near miss - with multiple murderer John Sweeney, but where are Delia and John now?

The new four-part true crime dramatisation is arguably one of the best yet - standing alongside the brilliant but haunting series such as The Pembrokeshire Murders, Sherwood, and The Sixth Commandment.

Until I Kill You is based on Delia Balmer's book Living with a Serial Killer, which describes how she survived living with serial axe murderer John Sweeney.

So where is Delia Balmer now? Is John Sweeney behind bars? Here's everything you need to know...

Delia Balmer and John Sweeney relationship: How did they meet?

Agency nurse Delia Balmer first met serial murderer John Sweeney in a pub in London in the early 1990s. She was an outsider with very few friends, while he was a carpenter, who travelled around Europe for work.

At first, the pair seemed a good match. Both led a slightly left-field life, that didn't conform to society's norms. However, as their fling turned into a three-year relationship, John became more controlling. The slow drip, drip gaslighting of a serial abuser began.

As his abusive behaviour became more normal, John began to talk about his ex-girlfriends, even letting slip horrifying details about what he had done to them. John chose his targets with care - he preyed on vulnerable women, who wouldn't be missed.

As his temper grew, and Delia became more and more scared of him, she tried to finish their relationship. However, he turned angry and refused to leave her flat.

How did Delia get away from John?

On more than one occasion, John held Delia hostage and tortured her. Chillingly, he also confessed to the murder of his previous girlfriend after Delia found drawings of a body without hands and feet.

After one serious assault, Sweeney was arrested but later released on bail. He targeted Delia in a final frenzied attack with an axe, leaving her on the brink of death. He then went on the run.

Astonishingly, it would take the police six years to capture and convict him of multiple murders. Having eventually rebuilt her life, she was able to confront John seven years later in court after he was arrested for another murder.

Where is John Sweeney now?

In 1994, John Sweeney went on the run living under assumed aliases following the attack in Camden on Delia Balmer. He was finally arrested six years later at a central London building site after the discovery of his latest victim's remains.

John Sweeney was found guilty of murdering two former girlfriends and dumping their dismembered remains in canals in Rotterdam and London.

At the Old Bailey, a judge and jury convicted him of the 1990 murder of Melissa Halstead, 33, a former model from Ohio who was living in Amsterdam. He was also convicted of murdering 31-year-old Paula Fields in in 2000.

The serial killer - dubbed the 'Scalp Hunter' as a result of his crimes - was already serving a life sentence for the attempted murder of a third girlfriend in 1994. He was locked up for good in 2011.

An Old Bailey judge imposed a whole-life sentence on the Liverpool-born canal murderer for the "terrible, wicked crimes". He was 54 years old at the time, and will die in jail.

Where is Delia Balmer now?

After escaping John Sweeney with her life (barely), Delia went on to write about her traumatic experiences. She is the only known survivor of serial killer John Sweeney, although the experience left her with PTSD.

In her memoir Living With a Serial Killer, on which the ITV show Until I Kill You is based, she described how he held her hostage tied to a bed for four days and later attacked her with an axe.

Amazingly, decades later, Delia still sleeps in the bed Sweeney made for her - and to which he tied her to for four days.

Writer Nick Stevens explained: "The real Delia knows she can be a difficult person, partly due to her own unique wiring, partly due to the PTSD she still suffers from as a consequence of her time with John Sweeney.

"Once I'd got to know Delia - and spoken to some of the police officers who handled her case - I began to realise the extent to which Delia's personality had negatively impacted on her dealings with certain key individuals in the Criminal Justice System whose job it was to protect her."

Now, Delia is 74 years of age. She does ballet classes twice a week, regularly goes out for long restless walks, and travels whenever she can. Unable to afford to stay in 5-star hotels, she stays in YMCAs and Airbnbs.

Was Delia Balmer involved in Until I Kill You?

Delia Balmer consulted on the ITV drama Until I Kill You. And the series in based on her book.

Writer Nick Stevens explained: "One of the things I find most baffling about Delia is the fact that her greatest resentment and most ferocious anger is directed not at John Sweeney, but at the police and the court system.

"Her bitterest tirades are reserved for them. Maybe this has its roots in the catastrophic to grant Sweeney bail in the winter of 1994 - thus enabling Sweeney to carry out his savage, near-fatal attack on Delia."

Delia read all of the scripts, gave her feedback and the ITV team made changes based on that feedback.

Delia Balmer now: 'I suffer from depression'

In an interview ahead of the show landing on ITV, Delia described how she felt about her story being made into a TV drama.

She said: "I wrote my own original story because I wanted the facts of what really happened known. Often the media had not portrayed them accurately, and many issues important to me had not been stated. The printed book had been edited and much of what I had written was also omitted."

Talking about reliving the trauma, she said: "When I wrote my original story, I included every detail of what happened. When it came to the final attack on the doorstep, I edited it over and over again, wanting everything to read precisely as it had happened. My concern has always been to get the truth out by whatever means. I remain an angry person. Sweeney was let out on bail. The police gave me insufficient protection before his final assault. Later, I was forced to go to court to be further traumatised by the system."

Describing what her life looks like now, Delia went on to say: "I am a perfectionist but my life is opposite of perfect. I often suffer from depression and anxiety, afraid of life and afraid of the future, a compulsive worrier.

"When I look in the mirror I see a stranger. Certain physical pain, I will have for life. I am stuck. I cannot move on, and cannot go further. Fear holds me back from doing certain things."

Until I Kill You airs from Sunday, November 03, 2024 on ITV1 and ITVX.