Grandchildren of Ruth Ellis, last woman hanged in UK, seek posthumous pardon

The grandchildren of the last woman to be hanged in the UK are asking ministers to posthumously pardon her in light of evidence that she was emotionally and physically abused by her partner before she killed him.

- Rachel Hall

Ruth Ellis was executed in 1955 after killing her ex-partner, whom she had met two years earlier while working in the nightclub she managed.

At the time, she was portrayed as a “coldblooded killer” but evidence has since emerged that she had been physically and emotionally abused by the racing-car driver David Blakely.

The impact on her emotional state was not considered during the trial. The judge told the jury to disregard the fact that she had been “badly treated by her lover” as a defence.

At the time of her death, Ellis was a 26-year-old single mother of two.

Her grandchildren are presenting the justice secretary, David Lammy, with an application for a conditional pardon, on the grounds that a modern understanding of the impact of abusive and controlling behaviour would probably have resulted in a manslaughter conviction at most, which would not have carried a death sentence. Ellis would also have benefited from concepts such as diminished responsibility and loss of control, enshrined in law in 1957.