Ruth Ellis: Last woman to be hanged in Britain finally granted pardon
David Lammy has confirmed that Ruth Ellis, the last woman executed in the UK, has been given a conditional pardon.
Ellis shot and killed Blakely outside The Magdala pub in Hampstead, London, on 10 April 1955; following a tumultuous relationship that included infidelity on both sides, an aborted pregnancy and physical abuse, including a punch to Mr Blakely’s stomach during an argument that resulted in a miscarriage.
During cross-examination, Ellis admitted that he planned to kill Blakely, and it took the jury just 20 minutes to convict him of murder; this was a charge that carried the mandatory death penalty. He was later executed on July 13, 1955.
Her family requested clemency, saying that the evidence that her boyfriend had mistreated her was never heard during her trial.
Mr Lammy told MPs that the King had accepted the government’s recommendation that Ms Ellis be granted a conditional pardon.
Ellis’s legacy has been cemented in the worlds of film, television and theatre; the most famous film was Mike Newell’s motion picture. Dance with a Stranger (1985), starring Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis.
Lucy Boynton recently played Miss Ellis in the ITV soap. A Cruel Love: Ruth Ellis StorThe film also stars Toby Jones, Toby Stephens, Juliet Stevenson and Laurie Davidson as Ellis’ partner David Blakely.
Ellis was tried at Court Number One at the Old Bailey on 20 June 1955. Prosecutor Christmas Humphreys asked him one question: “What were you thinking of doing when you fired the gun at point-blank range into David Blakely’s body?”
He replied: “It’s clear that I intended to kill him when I shot him.” This confession was enough for the jury, which deliberated for just 20 minutes, to find Ellis guilty and sentence him to death penalty, which was the mandatory penalty for murder at the time.
Ellis was executed by famed executioner Albert Pierrepoint at 9:01 a.m. on July 13, 1955. As was customary in British executions, Ellis was buried in an unmarked grave at Holloway Prison. He was 28 years old.
His execution caused public outrage and contributed to increased support for the abolition of the death penalty, which was eventually suspended in 1965.
A petition signed by 50,000 people calling for Ellis to be pardoned on the grounds that he could be tried for manslaughter was submitted to the Home Office. Ultimately it was rejected.
Considering the abuse he suffered, further calls for amnesty were made in 2003 and 2007, but both failed to be granted.
Although it took a decade, the Ellis trial contributed greatly to the abolition of the death penalty in Britain, which was finally introduced in 1965.
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