Ruth Ellis, the final woman to be executed in the United Kingdom, has received a conditional posthumous pardon, officials announced Wednesday. The King has granted the pardon on the advice of the government.
Ellis was hanged at London's Holloway Prison in 1955 after being convicted of murdering her lover, David Blakely. Her family has long campaigned for her conviction to be overturned, arguing that she was a victim of domestic abuse and had suffered physical and emotional abuse from Blakely prior to the shooting. He was a racing driver with whom she had a tumultuous relationship marked by infidelity.
During her trial, the judge instructed the jury to disregard evidence that Ellis had been mistreated by Blakely, a consideration that would have been relevant under later legal changes introducing diminished responsibility as a defense. The case occurred two years before this legal shift.
Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy informed Members of Parliament that the pardon does not assert Ellis's innocence of killing Blakely but substitutes the death penalty with a life imprisonment sentence. He stated that this recognizes a "profound injustice in this exceptional case" and expressed hope that it brings "a measure of peace to Ruth Ellis' family, who have carried the weight of what happened to her for over 70 years."
Ellis, a nightclub hostess, shot Blakely outside The Magdala pub in Hampstead, London, after enduring abuse, including a miscarriage following an incident where Blakely punched her in the stomach. At the time of her relationship with Blakely, Ellis had undergone an abortion, which was illegal in the UK.
Labour MP Pam Cox raised the case in the House of Commons, advocating for the pardon on behalf of Ellis's grandchildren. Cox highlighted the case as a "haunting reminder of a time when our justice system ignored the realities of domestic abuse and coercive control." She urged the government to ensure that the lessons from Ellis's case strengthen resolve to protect women from cycles of abuse.