2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Joanna Berry)
Fans of the new ITV true crime drama Until I Kill You have flooded social media to highlight a "crazy" issue depicted in the show, calling for urgent reform. The series, inspired by actual events, tells the harrowing tale of London nurse Delia Balmer, portrayed by Anna Maxwell Martin , who endures days of agony at the hands of her ex-partner John Sweeney as he keeps her captive in her flat. The nightmare escalates when Sweeney, having been released on bail, ambushes her with an axe and knife right outside her home.
Despite the severity of his assault on Delia, Sweeney's nine-year sentence has left viewers in disbelief. One person posted online: "How can someone be given 4 life sentences and be eligible for parole in 9 years? It’s crazy," while another expressed their astonishment: "Four life sentences. What?!?! Eligible for parole in nine years?!!!" Another commenter lamented the ongoing plight of male violence victims, stating: "I’d like to say that victims of male violence are not treated like this anymore but sadly I’d be wrong.
Let down by the criminal justice system time & time again. We need it to stop." Delia Balmer has openly expressed her fury towards the criminal justice system, equating it with her anger towards Sweeney himself.
In a candid interview for the series, she revealed: "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." Writer of Until I Kill You, Nick Stevens, also weighed in on Delia's ordeal, particularly how she felt about Sweeney being released on bail only to attack her again, and his initial life sentence with a minimum term of nine years. He observed: "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," adding, "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." Simon Heath, the executive producer of the series, has pointed out that despite the events being set in the 1990s, there's been little progress in how the legal system handles such crimes. He expressed his dismay, saying, "To be working on this drama and then be reminded that nothing has really changed was depressing.
The issues the drama illuminates haven’t gone away," and added, "There’s still a serious failure to take domestic violence seriously enough. This drama is a reminder of that. It was important for the drama to show how Delia got herself into the relationship with Sweeney, how he trapped her and then how difficult it was for her to get away.
Even when Delia did escape, the courts failed to deal with Sweeney and he was almost able to take fatal revenge on her.".
