Sheridan Smith has been spotted filming for her upcoming true-crime drama, just days after reprising her role as Smithy's sister in Gavin & Stacey. The final ever episode of the sitcom aired on BBC One on Christmas Day, but now Sheridan has been seen filming for her upcoming ITV drama I Fought The Law. The actress, 43, has had a complete change of pace for her current project and has been transformed as she plays former nurse Ann Ming.
Ann's daughter Julie Hogg was brutally murdered in 1989, with her inspirational mother going on to lead a historic campaign in which she she succeeded in getting the UK's double jeopardy law abolished. I Fought The Law follows her fight and is being filmed in Hartlepool, Country Durham.
The ITV drama shows the mother's campaign for justice after William 'Billy' Dunlop was acquitted of Julie's murder. The determined mother stopped at nothing, with her daughter's killer finally jailed for life in 2006, after boasting about getting away with murder.
In dramatic photos showing the filming of the series, Sheridan's character can be seen getting thrown out of court while she performs the re-enactment of the landmark court case. Another sees her arguing with legal figures, with a third seeing her sitting despondently on a bench outside the courtroom.
The archaic Double Jeopardy rule that Ann fought to remove prevented a person from being prosecuted for the same crime twice. Thanks to Ann's commitment to getting justice for her daughter, the Criminal Justice Act 2003 abolished the rule for serious crimes, and it came into effect two years later in 2005. Ann's campaign was so momentous that she went on to be appointed an MBE for services to the criminal justice system in 2007.
