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How one of UK's most dangerous criminals John Sweeney was finally caught

John Sweeney in 2011
-Credit: (Image: Getty)


The woman who found her murderous boyfriend's 'kill kit' under their bed has spoken out in a shocking new documentary.

I Survived a Serial Killer: The Delia Balmer Story tells the terrifying true story of how one woman survived living with serial killer John Sweeney, known as the canal murderer due to dumping his victims in the water, who was born in Skelmersdale.

The Channel 5 documentary reveals that Delia was working as an agency nurse when she met John Sweeney - an artist and carpenter in a pub in Camden, North London back in 1991. The couple bonded over a love of travelling and soon moved in together, but she became suspicious that her lover was hiding a sinister secret when his behaviour turned aggressive, the Mirror reports.

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It was 1994, three years into their relationship, when Delia became alarmed after finding rope, tape and gloves under the bed they shared. Sweeney held her captive for four days, repeatedly raping her before attempting to kill her with a wooden axe.

Delia lived to tell the tale and see her former partner put behind bars for the attempt on her life and for the double murder of two of his ex-girlfriends.

During the documentary Sweeney was described by police as "one of the most dangerous men ever to be put before the courts" after he went on to kill another girlfriend, before chopping her body into more than a dozen pieces. Detectives have still not located the whereabouts of three other women who were in a relationship with Sweeney fearing they too could have suffered the same fate.

John Sweeney and Delia Balmer lived together
John Sweeney and Delia Balmer -Credit:Mirror

Following his attack on Delia Balmer in 1994, John went on the run but was finally arrested six years later at a central London building site after the discovery of Paula Fields' remains.

Police found clues of his hatred of women at his home when they discovered a hoard of more than 300 violent paintings and poems. One, entitled the Scalp Hunter, depicted a female victim and a bloody axe. He has been told he will likely die in jail.

Judge Mr Justice Saunders said the offences were so serious only a whole life term was appropriate. "These were terrible, wicked crimes. The heads of the victims having been removed, it is impossible to be certain how they were killed. The mutilation of the bodies is a serious aggravating feature of the murders.

"Not only does it reveal the cold-blooded nature of the killer, but it has added greatly to the distress of the families to know that parts of their loved ones have never been recovered."

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