Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK, has been granted a conditional posthumous pardon.
Ellis was hanged at London’s Holloway Prison in 1955 after being convicted of murdering her lover David Blakely.
Her family have campaigned for her murder conviction to be overturned, arguing she was a victim of domestic abuse and was physically and emotionally abused by Blakely before shooting him.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy told MPs the King had granted the pardon, saying that the death penalty had been replaced with a sentence of life imprisonment.
Ellis’ granddaughter Laura Enston welcomed the news and said: “The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.”
Nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis, from Rhyl, Denbighshire, shot Blakely outside The Magdala pub in Hampstead, London, following a tumultuous relationship involving infidelity on both sides.
Ellis had an abortion, which was illegal in the UK at the time, and was physically abused by the racing driver – including being punched in the stomach during an argument that led to a miscarriage.
The judge told the jury in her case to disregard the fact that the mother-of-two had been “badly treated by her lover” as a defence. The case occurred two years before legal changes saw diminished responsibility introduced as a defence.
On Wednesday in the House of Commons, Labour MP Pam Cox asked Lammy for the pardon on behalf of her grandchildren, who were watching proceedings from the public gallery.
She said: “Her case serves as a haunting reminder of a time when our justice system ignored the realities of domestic abuse and coercive control.
“In the decades since, members of Ruth’s family and supporters have campaigned unwaveringly for her to receive a posthumous pardon.
“Will the deputy prime minister agree with me that their courageous campaign, and the terrible lessons of Ruth’s case, must strengthen the government’s resolve to free women from devastating cycles of abuse?”
Lammy responded: “I have the honour to say that His Majesty the King has accepted our advice to grant Ruth Ellis a conditional pardon, the last woman to be hanged in the United Kingdom.
“While the pardon does not claim she was innocent of killing David Blakely, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment to recognise a profound injustice in this exceptional case.”
He added: “We hope this brings a measure of peace to Ruth Ellis’ family, who have carried the weight of what happened to her for over 70 years.”
