{"id":79161,"date":"2026-07-08T14:06:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/79161\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T14:06:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T14:06:16","slug":"ruth-ellis-last-woman-to-be-hanged-in-britain-finally-granted-pardon-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/79161\/","title":{"rendered":"Ruth Ellis: Last woman to be hanged in Britain finally granted pardon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ruth Ellis<\/a>, the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom,<\/a> has been given a conditional pardon, David Lammy<\/a> has confirmed.<\/p>\n

Ms Ellis shot her lover David Blakely dead outside The Magdala pub in Hampstead<\/a>, London on 10 April 1955<\/a>, after he subjected her to emotional and physical abuse \u2013 including a punch in the stomach that led to her miscarrying a pregnancy.<\/p>\n

Under cross-examination, Ms Ellis admitted that she intended to kill Mr Blakely, and the jury took just 20 minutes to convict her of murder \u2013 a charge that carried a mandatory death sentence.<\/p>\n

She was later executed on 13 July 1955.<\/p>\n

Her family have been calling for a pardon<\/a>, saying evidence that Ms Ellis was abused by Mr Blakely was never heard at her trial.<\/p>\n

The King has now accepted the government\u2019s advice to grant Ms Ellis a conditional pardon, Mr Lammy told MPs.<\/p>\n

\"David<\/p>\n

David Blakely (left), the racing driver who was killed by Ruth Ellis (right) in 1955 (PA)<\/p>\n

Ms Ellis\u2019s legacy has been cemented in the world of film, television and theatre, with the most famous film being Mike Newell\u2019s moving Dance with a Stranger<\/a> (1985) with Miranda Richardson as Ruth Ellis.<\/p>\n

Lucy Boynton recently played Ms Ellis in the ITV drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story,<\/a> which also starred Toby Jones, Toby Stephens, Juliet Stevenson, and Laurie Davidson as Mr Blakely.<\/p>\n

Ms Ellis was trialled at the Old Bailey on 20 June 1955. Prosecutor Christmas Humphreys asked her just one question: \u201cWhen you fired the revolver at close range into the body of David Blakely, what did you intend to do?\u201d<\/p>\n

She replied: \u201cIt’s obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n

She was executed at 9.01am on 13 July 1955 by the famed hangman Albert Pierrepoint.<\/p>\n

As was customary with British executions, Ms Ellis was buried in an unmarked grave in Holloway Prison. She was 28.<\/p>\n

\"Ruth<\/p>\n

Ruth Ellis\u2019s execution caused public outrage and contributed to growing support for the abolition of the death penalty, which was eventually suspended in 1965<\/p>\n

Her execution caused public outrage and contributed to growing support for the abolition of the death penalty, which was eventually suspended in 1965.<\/p>\n

A petition signed by 50,000 people called for Ms Ellis\u2019s pardon on the grounds she could have been tried for manslaughter, and was submitted to the Home Office. It was ultimately rejected.<\/p>\n

Further calls for her pardon, taking into account the abuse she had suffered, were brought forward in 2003 and 2007, but both failed to pass.<\/p>\n

Although it took a decade, the Ellis case did much to advance the abolition of the death penalty<\/a> in Britain<\/a>, which finally came to pass in 1965.<\/p>\n

A family campaign<\/p>\n

Ms Ellis\u2019s grandchildren presented Mr Lammy with an application for a conditional pardon in 2025.<\/p>\n

They argued that Ms Ellis had been subject to abusive and controlling behaviour, and a modern understanding of the impact on her would have resulted in a manslaughter conviction at most.<\/p>\n

\"Laura<\/p>\n

Laura Enston, the granddaughter of Ruth Ellis, makes a statement following the conditional pardon being granted (PA)<\/p>\n

Laura Enston, Ellis\u2019s granddaughter, told The Guardian<\/a> at the time: \u201cRuth\u2019s execution has had a devastating impact on our family. My mother and uncle suffered from trauma from which neither of them were able to recover, and as grandchildren we have felt these ripple effects.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe evidence shared with the justice secretary makes clear that the punishment did not fit the crime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ms Enston said that her family had suffered mental health problems \u2013 her mother, Ms Ellis\u2019s daughter, was a \u201cvery tormented woman\u201d, while her uncle was diagnosed with schizophrenia and died by suicide, she told The Guardian.<\/p>\n

She herself was bullied at school due to being Ms Ellis\u2019s granddaughter, she said.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, Ms Enston welcomed the pardon, saying that \u201cjustice has finally been done\u201d for her grandmother.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken \u2013 the children left behind, the years lost,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed, that the justice system failed her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat acknowledgement matters profoundly to our family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Katy Colton, a partner at Mishcon de Reya, which acted for Ms Ellis\u2019s grandchildren, said a conditional pardon \u201cis a landmark moment\u201d for justice in the UK and domestic abuse survivors.<\/p>\n

Speaking outside the Houses of Parliament on Wednesday, she said: \u201cThe granting of a conditional pardon for Ruth Ellis is a landmark moment for the family, for the British justice system and for domestic abuse survivors who\u2019ve been failed by the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur application demonstrated that Ruth suffered what is now known as battered woman syndrome and that the cumulative impact of the appalling abuse that she sustained would, under the law as it stands today, have led to a different outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

The national domestic abuse helpline offers support for women on 0808 2000 247, or you can visit the Refuge<\/a> website. There is a dedicated men’s advice line<\/a> on 0808 8010 327. Those in the US can call the domestic violence hotline on 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org<\/a><\/p>\n

If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI) or visit the Samaritans<\/a> website to find details of your nearest branch.<\/p>\n

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit 988lifeline.org<\/a> to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org<\/a> to find a helpline near you.<\/p>\n

Subscribe here<\/a> to get the latest updates from The Independent<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, has been given a conditional pardon,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2],"tags":[13,35255,8680,35257,35256,35254],"class_list":["post-79161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-britain","tag-britain","tag-david-blakely","tag-david-lammy","tag-mr-blakely","tag-ms-ellis","tag-ruth-ellis"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116884746027803823","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}