Britain Grants Conditional Pardon to Woman 71 Years After Her Execution

The British government has announced a conditional pardon for Ruth Ellis, the last woman executed in the United Kingdom, more than seven decades after her execution for murdering her partner, who her family said had repeatedly subjected her to physical and psychological abuse.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said the pardon 'does not mean that Ruth Ellis was innocent of murdering David Blakely, but it replaces the death sentence with life imprisonment in recognition of a grave injustice in this exceptional case.'

Ellis, a 28-year-old single mother working as a nightclub hostess, was hanged on July 13, 1955, after being convicted of shooting racing car driver David Blakely outside a pub in North London.

The case sparked widespread debate in Britain at the time, as the court was not allowed to consider the impact of the violence and abuse Ellis suffered during her relationship with Blakely, later regarded as one of the shortcomings of the judicial system.

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The pardon came after a long campaign led by Ellis's grandchildren, who said the court had ignored evidence of the physical, sexual, and psychological abuse she suffered, including beatings and a miscarriage resulting from assault.

Her granddaughter Laura Instone said the decision 'does not erase what happened 71 years ago, but finally acknowledges that the justice system failed Ruth, and that she should never have been executed.'

The family's request was based on evidence that Ellis suffered from what is now known as 'battered woman syndrome,' a condition not recognized by British law at the time of her trial.

Legal experts believe that Ellis would have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder if current laws on diminished responsibility had been applied then.

The case of Ruth Ellis was one of the most prominent in changing British legislation, as parliament passed a law two years after her execution allowing the defense of diminished responsibility due to mental disorders, before Britain suspended the death penalty in 1965 and abolished it entirely in 1970.