Ruth Ellis’s posthumous pardon is a long overdue recognition of the terrible impact of abuse

Ruth Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in Britain on 13 July 1955. His execution was a national event. A crowd of 1,000 gathered outside Holloway Prison in London that morning. Anti-death penalty protesters held signs, some prayed, some cried. Ellis’ story had a profound impact on the public.

More than 70 years later, deputy prime minister David Lammy announced that Ellis had been granted a conditional pardon due to the “exceptional circumstances” of the case; He said this situation was a “deep injustice”. The pardon replaces Ellis’ death penalty with a life sentence. He also acknowledged that the outcome of the case may have been different under modern law.

As part of my research into the death penalty in Britain, I wrote about the public reaction to Ellis’s case and how it was portrayed in the press. I argued that his case was culturally significant in that it helped change views on the death penalty.

Ruth Ellis was a 28-year-old woman who worked as a nightclub manager in London. He had two young children. In June 1955, she was convicted of murdering David Blakely, with whom she was having an affair. The events surrounding the murder were dramatic. On 10 April 1955 he took a taxi to Hampstead and shot Blakely several times in the back, including as he lay on the ground outside the Magdala Tavern pub. He was arrested by an off-duty police officer who was at the bar and taken to the police station.

The high-profile case received widespread newspaper coverage from the beginning. The content of the story – an inter-class love story that turns deadly – was ideal material for sensational articles. Blakely was the son of a doctor. Ellis had what might be dismissively considered a “past.” She was a divorced, working-class woman who had given birth to a child out of wedlock. She did nude modeling and worked in nightclubs.

With her peroxide blonde hair, Ellis looked like a 1950s movie star. She was not respectable by the standards of femininity of the age. Her relationship with Blakely shook the boundaries of social class, but also carried the allure of the fast life and bright lights – “the champagne and chandeliers of London”, as the Woman’s Sunday Mirror put it.

At Ellis’ trial, the judge did not allow the jury to consider his attorney’s attempt to claim provocation, citing insufficient evidence to support the defense. Provocation was a partial defense against murder; if successfully defended, the conviction could be reduced to involuntary manslaughter, which does not carry the death penalty. Ellis was found guilty of murder and sentenced to death, which was mandatory for murder at the time. There was no objection.

There was more to the story than a love gone wrong. Blakely physically and emotionally abused Ellis; This situation came to public attention through the press as the case progressed.

an article Daily Mirror Ellis’ brother described him as “limping on two sticks” after a “stand-up fight” with Blakely. Ellis’ life story was serialized Woman’s Sunday Mirrorand detailed how one night Blakely “grabbed me by the throat and squeezed me. Everything went black. I thought I was going to die.” In one particularly brutal attack, he reportedly punched Ellis repeatedly in the stomach while she was pregnant. She later had a miscarriage.

Justice delayed

Writing about the case to the then home secretary, Gwilym Lloyd George, in the days before the execution, members of the public expressed concern that Ellis was facing execution when Blakely “inflicted physical violence” and “made him live the life of Cat and Dog”. Women spoke out about their own experiences of abuse. One of them said: “Only a woman can understand that the one who is in the same situation as me and millions of others is beaten by our husbands.”

Public reaction showed that many people identified personally with Ellis and his experiences of abuse. There was also an understanding that these experiences would influence his behavior. Referring to Ellis’ miscarriage after being punched in the stomach, one man angrily commented: “All of this doesn’t matter and adds nothing to a woman’s life.” [sic] mind”.

Efforts to get Lloyd George a reprieve were unsuccessful. A reprieve would have meant imprisonment rather than death. Ellis said he was “quite happy to die” but reportedly changed his mind the night before his execution.

In the intervening years, Ellis remained in the public imagination. His intriguing story has been adapted into films, dramas and documentaries. The conditional pardon rewrote the ending, acknowledging that he should not have been hanged.

The law has changed since Ellis’ trial in 1955. Legal partial defenses to murder, despite their limitations, can better incorporate evidence regarding experiences of gender-based violence and coercive control.

Gender-based violence remains a serious problem experienced by women and girls in Britain and around the world. Ellis’s posthumous pardon represents a long-overdue acknowledgment of the terrible impact of the abuse and eases some of the burden his descendants carry.

The national domestic violence helpline offers support to women on 0808 2000 247 or visit: Asylum website. There is a special section men’s advice line on 0808 8010 327. US residents can call the domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). You can reach other international helplines at: www.befrienders.org