Descendants Seek Posthumous Pardon for Ruth Ellis, Last Woman Hanged in UK

Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be executed in the UK in 1955 for killing her lover David Blakely, is the subject of a posthumous pardon campaign by her grandchildren. They argue that Ellis was a victim of long-term emotional, sexual, and physical abuse by Blakely, which was not considered during her trial, and that legal defenses such as diminished responsibility and loss of control were unavailable to her at the time. The family highlights failures in the investigation and defense, as well as prejudice by police and the then-Home Secretary, which contributed to her execution despite changing attitudes toward the death penalty. Ellis’s execution had a devastating impact on her family, with her children suffering trauma and mental health issues, including one child’s suicide and another’s early death from cancer. The family seeks a conditional pardon from Justice Secretary David Lammy to acknowledge this historic injustice and shift public perception of Ellis from a "cold-blooded killer" to a victim of abuse and an emblem of the failings of the criminal justice system regarding domestic violence. This effort also aims to honor other victims of domestic abuse who have been let down by the legal system.