The grandchildren of the last woman hanged in the United Kingdom ask for her forgiveness 70 years after she killed her

The grandchildren of the last woman to be executed in Britain have asked for Ruth Ellis’ forgiveness, 70 years after she was sent to hang for murdering her “abusive” lover, her lawyers said on Wednesday.

Ellis, a 28-year-old nightclub hostess, was hanged in July 1955 for shooting dead racing driver David Blakely as he left the Magdala pub in London three months earlier.

The case shocked Britain and was made into the 1985 film “Dance with a Stranger,” starring Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett. It also inspired this year’s true crime miniseries “A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.”

Four of Ellis’ six grandchildren have formally asked Justice Minister David Lammy for a posthumous pardon.

The request highlights the “repeated and prolonged sexual, emotional and physical abuse that Ellis suffered” at the hands of Blakely, the Mischon de Reya law firm, which represents the family, said in a statement.

Such abuse was not well understood at the time, but in a current case would likely result in a charge of manslaughter, not murder, the firm said.

“We are determined to do what we can to right this historic injustice and honor not only Ruth but all victims of domestic abuse who have been let down by the criminal justice system,” her granddaughter Laura Enston said in a statement.

“Ruth was traumatized”

Enston’s mother Georgina was just three years old when Ellis was hanged in London’s Holloway Prison after the trial jury took just 20 minutes to find her guilty.

Enston said her grandmother would now have been considered a victim of battered woman syndrome and would have been treated much differently by the justice system.

“At the time there was no desire to give Ruth a fair chance and now we realize how many social prejudices were at play,” he said.

The glamorous single mother of two from a modest background had shown no emotion during her trial.

“She unwittingly played that kind of cold-blooded murderous character that had been portrayed, but knowing what we know now about trauma and slow provocation, Ruth was traumatized… and was typical of victims of domestic abuse,” Enston said.

The abuse included an incident 10 days before the murder when Ellis suffered a miscarriage after Blakely, the baby’s father, punched her in the stomach.

James Libson for Mischon de Reya, said Ellis “suffered considerably” at the hands of his “violent and abusive partner”.

Alex Bailin, who also represents the Ellis family, said in a statement: “Thankfully, 70 years after Ruth was hanged, the impact of domestic abuse on the emotional well-being and behavior of victims is now much better understood.”

“She should never have been executed”

“While there is no doubt that Ruth Ellis killed David Blakely, the weight of evidence of her vulnerability makes it absolutely clear that she should never have been executed,” he said in a statement.

The hanging of Ellis sparked a public outcry and helped swing public opinion against the death penalty.

Following a series of other controversial executions and a series of miscarriages of justice, it was permanently abolished for murder in 1969.

Two years after Ellis’ execution, the law was also changed to allow a defense of diminished responsibility.

In 2003, the Court of Appeal upheld Ellis’ conviction after the family made an earlier attempt to clear his name.

However, unlike judicial appeals, pardons can be granted based on broader factors that may make a conviction unfair.

Enston, whose own mother sat her down to watch the film about Ellis when she was seven, said it had had a “devastating” effect on the family.

His mother and uncle never really recovered and the grandchildren felt the “domino effect.”

She said they were determined to correct the narrative around the case for themselves and their grandmother, but also for the thousands of women who experience domestic violence every day and are “let down by the criminal justice system.”

His family has spent decades fighting to have his case reconsidered, BBC News reported.

“She’s a killer, but she didn’t deserve to be cut off from the world the way she was,” said her grandson Stephen Beard.

In:

• United Kingdom
• Execution