Any new Sheridan Smith project is good news in our books. Following the recent announcement of her role in BBC thriller The Cage, we now know that Smith has also been cast in a new ITV drama, I Fought The Law, a hard-hitting drama based on the true story of one woman’s determination to find justice for her daughter’s murder.

Written by screenwriter Jamie Crichton, the series recounts how tenacious mother of three, Ann Ming, battled for 15 years so that her daughter’s murderer could finally face justice, having been controversially acquitted following two mistrials. 

Across the four episodes, Smith will star as Ann as she battles for fifteen years to change the Double Jeopardy Law – which meant that a person could not be tried twice for the same offense after being acquitted or convicted – in her daughter’s memory.

The script is based on Ann’s book For The Love of Julie, which tells how Ann and her family dealt with Julie’s disappearance in Billingham, Cleveland, in November 1989 after working her late shift at a local pizza parlour.

Mother to three-year-old, Kevin, and married to husband, Andrew, Julie was only 22 when she died. Raised in a loving home, she was incredibly close to her parents, Ann and Charlie. Tragically, Ann found Julie’s body concealed in the bathroom of her modest terraced house in January 1990, 80 days after it was hidden behind the bath panel by her killer. This was in spite of extensive searches of the property by police forensics teams in the days after her disappearance, who failed to detect her body.

Dissatisfied with Cleveland Constabulary and their investigation, Ann challenged senior officers and applied pressure on the police to discover what had happened to her daughter and to prosecute the man who was guilty of her murder.  

Speaking about the project, Smith said: “I am so honoured to have been asked to play the role of Ann Ming, a mother so determined to fight for justice for her murdered daughter that she spent 15 years campaigning for the Double Jeopardy Law to be changed. She is a truly courageous and remarkable woman to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude.”

Ming also serves as a consultant on the production, and spoke about her involvement with the show. “I am very pleased that [production company] Hera Pictures will tell the story of my campaign to overturn the Double Jeopardy Law,” she said.

“My daughter’s killer was wrongfully acquitted, and a number of years later confessed to her murder, for which he could only be prosecuted for perjury due to the 800-year-old Double Jeopardy Law. I wasn’t going to let this stand in my way of getting justice for Julie.

“I’m overwhelmed that Sheridan Smith will be playing me. Having such an iconic and talented actor portray me is truly wonderful.”

Screenwriter Jamie Crichton said that as soon as he heard about Ming and her “iron resolve and unbelievable courage to see justice done in the face of adversity”, he knew this story had to be told.

He added: “Ann is a shining beacon of what can be achieved if you stop at nothing to make your voice heard. In an age when it’s all too easy to feel helpless, we need more Ann Mings in the world.”

Filming has begun for this upcoming series, but there is no confirmed release date yet.

I Fought The Law will air on ITV1 and ITVX.

Images: Getty