IT is a tragic tale of sex, murder, jealousy and intrigue that gripped the nation for decades before justice was finally served.
Glamorous nightclub hostess , 28, became notorious for being the last woman hanged in the UK after fatally shooting her playboy lover in 1955.
Nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis was the last woman hanged in the UK after shooting her lover in 1955 in a case that gripped the nation Credit: Alamy
Ruth and her lover David Blakely in 1955, shortly before she gunned him down outside a North London pub Credit: Getty
But her family fiercely campaigned for her full story to be heard, arguing that she was by her partner David Blakely before she finally snapped and killed him.
Now, an incredible 71 years on from her execution, the King has granted mum-of-two Ruth a posthumous conditional pardon to correct one of the most profound miscarriages of justice this country has ever seen.
It is a move hailed as a landmark moment for survivors.
said: “It does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken, .
D2N0F6 The Magdala public house in Hampstead, London Credit: Alamy
The controversial case preyed on the conscience of judge Sir Cecil Havers, grandfather of actor Nigel Havers, who sent money to Ruth’s son Andy for years Credit: Getty
“But it says, formally and finally, that ; the justice system failed her.
“Her children — our mother and uncle — never recovered. The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.”
Yesterday’s surprise pardon, announced in by Deputy Prime Minister , reflects the fact that, had Ruth’s case been heard today, partial defences of loss of control or diminished responsibility might have been put before a jury.
In a macabre display, crowds gather outside Holloway Prison for Ruth’s hanging on July 13, 1955 Credit: Hulton Archive – Getty
Hangman Albert Pierrepoint, left, and Chief Inspector Robert Fabian after Ruth’s execution Credit: Getty
If accepted, her conviction might have been reduced from murder to manslaughter.
The conditional pardon does not change the fact that Ruth was found guilty in court, but substitutes her sentence with a lesser penalty. In this case, it replaces hanging with life imprisonment.
Ruth’s harrowing story inspired the 1985 British Dance With A Stranger, starring Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett.
Ruth’s relationship with was so tempestuous and toxic that now, he would likely be locked up for domestic violence and abusive control.
Ruth’s sister Muriel campaigned to overturn the conviction until her own death in 2018 Credit: Times Newspapers Ltd
Ruth’s grandson, Stephen Beard, argued that crucial evidence of abuse was not heard at the original trial Credit: The Times
But in the Fifties, even when he punched her so hard in the stomach she suffered a miscarriage, Ruth carried the burden.
When she found herself on trial, she simply confessed: “” At that time the death penalty was mandatory for murder. Ever since that fateful day, Ruth’s supporters have argued passionately she was driven to her .
She had endured a dark past blighted by cruelty and rage, suffering sexual abuse as a child and taking beatings from vicious lovers.
Born in Rhyl, Denbighshire, Ruth grew up in Basingstoke, Hants, but she and her five siblings were all terrified of their father Arthur. The musician battered his wife, a Belgian refugee called Bertha, and sexually abused two of his daughters.
The film Dance With A Stranger, starring Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett, was based on Ruth’s story Credit: Refer to Caption
Lucy Boynton also starred as Ruth in mini-series A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, in 2025 Credit: Not known, clear with picture desk
He got Ruth’s elder sister Muriel pregnant when she was 14 and then preyed on Ruth from the age of 11.
Muriel revealed later: “When she came home of an evening, my father would send me to the shop and do things to Ruth.”
In her teens, Ruth had a fling with a married soldier which resulted in pregnancy, but he abandoned her and it was decided that her mum would look after the baby boy, Andy. Struggling with several poorly-paid factory jobs but desperate to make ends meet in the capital, Ruth worked as a nude model, an escort and a nightclub.
She tied the knot with George Ellis, a divorced dentist and regular at the Court Club where she worked, in 1950. The alcoholic, who, at 41, was 17 years her senior, was a client who paid to have sex with Ruth.
But George would often fly into bitter rages. During their rows, he would bash her head against the wall and even refused to accept he was the father of their daughter Georgina.
Instead, George whisked the baby away to Warrington and handed her over to a wealthy couple to raise as their own.
Ruth left him and found work as a nightclub manager in Knightsbridge, where she first laid eyes on handsome charmer Blakely in 1953.
But soon they, too, were embroiled in furious arguments over Blakely’s cheating and other men in Ruth’s life — including former pilot Desmond Cussen. Ruth fell pregnant to Blakely twice. The first time, she had an abortion.
When she learned she was expecting another baby with him in January 1955, he lost his temper again and punched her so brutally the unborn child died. Unable to forgive him, on April 10, 1955, Ruth spent the day drowning her sorrows, sinking Pernod. Desmond Cussen, who longed to marry her, handed her a loaded .38 Smith & Weston gun and urged her to use it on his love rival.
He then drove her to the Magdala pub in Hampstead, north London, and together they lay in wait.
When Blakely staggered out, Ruth fired. The first shot missed and he ran. The second bullet hit the target and Blakely fell to the ground. Standing over his body, Ruth fired three more shots into him.
Afterwards, she did not try to escape, instead waiting at the scene and telling police: “I am guilty, I’m a little confused.” In court, psychiatrists found no evidence of mental illness.
And Ruth’s defence team were denied the chance to argue provocation after she sealed her own fate by telling the jury: “It’s obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him.”
The trial lasted barely two days, and jurors took less than 15 minutes to return a guilty verdict. Just over three weeks later, despite a public outcry and even the judge saying she did not deserve to be hanged, Ruth was swiftly at Holloway .
The last letter she wrote before her death on July 13, 1955 was to Blakely’s parents, sayings. It read: “I have always loved your son, and I shall die still loving him.”
documents released in 1999 revealed that Ellis made a dramatic death-cell revelation on the morning before her execution to solicitor, Victor Mishcon — telling him Cussens gave her the gun she used to shoot Blakely.
The authorities considered prosecuting him as an accessory, but decided it would be impossible without Ruth as a witness. Investigating Cussen’s involvement could have meant a last-minute reprieve.
Ten years later, capital punishment was abolished.
But the controversial case preyed on the conscience of judge Sir Cecil Havers, grandfather of actor , who sent money to Ruth’s son Andy for years. And prosecutor Christmas Humphreys later paid for his .
Ruth’s sister Muriel campaigned to overturn the conviction until her own death in 2018. In 2003, the rejected the bid on the grounds the original trial judge had not erred under the law at that time.
Last year, Ruth’s grandchildren urged David Lammy to recommend the posthumous pardon based on medical records and witness statements not available at her trial.
Laura and James Enston, and Stephen and Chloe Beard, argued that crucial evidence of abuse was not heard at the original trial and that Ruth’s execution had a devastating impact on their family. Ruth’s first husband George hanged himself in 1958, her son Andy took his own life in 1982 at 38, and her daughter Georgina, a heavy-drinking mum of six, died of cancer aged 50.
Ruth’s mother Bertha tried to take her own life, too. Laura said: “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.
“The punishment did not fit the crime.”
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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