Overview
- The Channel 5 film was shown again on Thursday, May 28, 2026, and replays Balmer’s first‑hand testimony about being held for four days in 1994 and the later attack outside her home.
- Reporting and the documentary describe how Balmer met John Sweeney in 1991, tried to leave in 1994, was restrained and threatened during captivity, and was later ambushed with an axe before a neighbour intervened.
- John Sweeney is a convicted murderer known as the 'Canal Killer' who was arrested after the assault on Balmer and is serving whole‑life prison terms for multiple killings.
- Balmer later wrote a memoir titled Living With A Serial Killer, worked as a therapeutic masseuse, travelled including to South Africa in 2023, now lives privately in her 70s, and has said she continues to struggle with her mental health.
- The renewed broadcast reflects a wider trend in true‑crime coverage that centres survivor testimony and archival evidence and may prompt fresh public attention to how police records and expert analysis corroborate abuse claims.