It's probably the hardest job I've ever done'

Ahead of her latest role in ITV drama I Fought The Law, Sheridan Smith opens up about getting into character for the heartrending real-life story

- ANNA POINTER

Sheridan Smith is known for taking on tough roles, but her latest might be the most harrowing yet. In ITV's upcoming drama I Fought The Law, she plays Ann Ming, a mother who battled tirelessly to bring her daughter's murderer to justice.

"I Fought The Law is probably the hardest job I've ever done," Sheridan says. "She's a little firecracker of a woman who took on the establishment and won. She's my hero."

Speaking in the September issue of Good Housekeeping UK, Sheridan, 44, reveals how much Ann's fight against the establishment inspired her.

"How had this little lady from up north gone and changed an 800-year-old law? I was thrilled to be asked to play her and couldn't wait to meet her. Her story hit especially hard as I'm a mum myself now." She adds, "I love my job... especially when I get to be part of telling amazing stories."

I Fought The Law recounts the struggles of former nurse Ann, whose daughter Julie Hogg vanished in November 1989 after finishing a shift at her pizza delivery job. Three months later Julie's body was found, and though the perpetrator was caught, he was acquitted by jury. When he later confessed, a double jeopardy law meant he couldn't be retried for the horrific crime. Ann then started a 15-year campaign which culminated in a change to the law, and his imprisonment. Following the conviction in 2006, Ann was awarded an MBE for services to the criminal justice system.