Grandchildren of Ruth Ellis, last woman to be hanged in UK, ask for pardon

The judge told the jury in 1955 to disregard the fact that Ellis had been ‘badly treated by her lover’ as a defence. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The grandchildren of the last woman to be hanged in the UK are asking ministers to posthumously pardon her in light of evidence that she was emotionally and physically abused by her partner before she killed him.

Ruth Ellis was executed in 1955 after killing David Blakely her partner, who she had met while working in the nightclub she managed two years earlier. At the time, she was portrayed as a “cold-blooded killer” but evidence has since emerged that Blakely, a racing-car driver, physically and emotionally abused her.