This article recounts the trial and execution of Ruth Ellis – the last woman hanged in Britain – who was executed by Albert Pierrepoint at Holloway Prison on July 13, 1955, for the murder of her lover David Blakely. The content is for educational and historical documentation only, based on court records, contemporary newspapers, and historical sources. It does not aim to glorify violence or advocate for crime.
Ruth Ellis: The Last Woman Hanged in Britain – A Controversial Execution That Changed History
On the morning of July 13, 1955, at Holloway Prison in London, a 28-year-old woman was led to the gallows. Her name was Ruth Ellis. She was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. Her case remains one of the most controversial in British legal history – not because there was doubt about her guilt, but because many believed she should never have been hanged at all. A victim of domestic abuse who had suffered at the hands of violent men throughout her life, Ellis shot and killed her lover, David Blakely, in a moment of passionate desperation. Her execution by the famous hangman Albert Pierrepoint sparked public outrage and helped fuel the movement that would eventually lead to the abolition of capital punishment in Britain.
This is the story of Ruth Ellis – a woman who paid the ultimate price for a crime born of suffering.
1. Early Life: A Childhood Marked by Hardship
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Ruth Ellis was born Ruth Neilson on October 9, 1926, in Rhyl, North Wales. Her childhood was far from stable. Her parents divorced when she was young, and she was raised primarily by her mother. At 14, she left school and moved to London, where she worked as a waitress and later as a nightclub hostess.
By her late teens, Ellis had entered a world of glamour and danger. She worked as a model and a club hostess, where she was often exposed to violence and exploitation. She became pregnant at 17 and gave birth to a son, Andy. The father, a Canadian soldier, abandoned her shortly afterward.
Over the next several years, Ellis endured a series of abusive relationships. She was beaten, manipulated, and mistreated by men who took advantage of her vulnerability. These experiences left deep emotional scars that would later play a central role in her trial.
2. Meeting David Blakely: A Toxic Love Affair
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In 1953, Ellis met David Blakely, a handsome but unstable racing car driver. Blakely was the son of a wealthy family, charismatic and charming, but also possessive, jealous, and prone to violent outbursts. Ellis fell deeply in love with him, but their relationship was volatile from the start.
Blakely was frequently unfaithful. He would disappear for days, refusing to answer her calls. On multiple occasions, he beat her so severely that her friends urged her to leave him. But Ellis, trapped by love and a desperate fear of abandonment, could not let go.
The situation worsened when Blakely began living with another woman, leaving Ellis feeling betrayed and humiliated. In the weeks leading up to the shooting, he had repeatedly promised to leave his new girlfriend but never followed through.
3. The Killing: A Crime of Passion
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On Easter Sunday, April 10, 1955, Ellis waited outside a pub in Hampstead, London, where Blakely was drinking with friends. She had been drinking heavily herself. Earlier that day, Blakely had struck her, leaving bruises on her face.
When Blakely emerged from the pub, Ellis called out to him. He ignored her and walked toward a friend’s car. Ellis pulled a .38 caliber revolver from her handbag and fired.
She shot Blakely four times. The first bullet missed. The second struck his hand. The third hit his arm. The fourth – fired as he lay on the ground – entered his stomach and proved fatal.
Ellis did not flee. She stood over his body until police arrived. When asked why she had done it, she reportedly replied: “I am so confused.”
Later, in her formal statement, she said: “I meant to kill him. I loved him so much.”
4. The Trial: A Verdict That Divided the Nation
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Ellis’s trial began on June 20, 1955, at the Old Bailey in London. The case was presided over by Mr. Justice Havers, and the prosecution was led by Christmas Humphreys, a renowned barrister who would later become a leading advocate for the abolition of the death penalty.
Ellis’s defense team, led by Sir Derek Curtis-Bennett, attempted to argue that she was suffering from diminished responsibility due to the years of abuse she had endured. They presented evidence of Blakely’s violence, including testimony from friends who had witnessed him beating Ellis.
However, the law at the time did not recognize “battered woman syndrome” or the psychological effects of long-term abuse as a defense for murder. The judge instructed the jury that Ellis had admitted to premeditated murder – she had brought a gun to the scene and waited for Blakely. Under British law, this was sufficient for a conviction of capital murder.
The jury deliberated for only 23 minutes. Their verdict: guilty. The sentence was death by hanging.
Public opinion was deeply divided. Many sympathized with Ellis, viewing her as a victim of circumstance rather than a cold-blooded killer. Others believed that the law must be applied equally, regardless of the defendant’s suffering.
5. The Execution: Albert Pierrepoint at Holloway Prison
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The execution was scheduled for the morning of July 13, 1955, at Holloway Prison in North London. The hangman was Albert Pierrepoint – Britain’s most famous executioner, who had hanged over 400 people, including many Nazi war criminals.
In the days leading up to the execution, a massive campaign for clemency was launched. Over 50,000 people signed a petition calling for the sentence to be commuted to life imprisonment. The case was even discussed in Parliament. But the Home Secretary, Gwilym Lloyd-George, refused to intervene.
On the morning of July 13, Ellis was led to the gallows. According to Pierrepoint’s later memoirs, she was calm and composed. She wore a black dress and did not resist. At 9:01 a.m., the trapdoor opened. Ruth Ellis was pronounced dead thirteen minutes later.
She was 28 years old.
6. Why Was Her Execution So Controversial?
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The execution of Ruth Ellis sparked immediate and widespread outrage. Several factors contributed to the controversy:
A. A Pattern of Abuse: Throughout her life, Ellis had been beaten, exploited, and abandoned by men. Her relationship with Blakely was marked by violence, yet none of his assaults had ever been prosecuted. Many felt that she was as much a victim as a perpetrator.
B. The Question of Premeditation: While Ellis had indeed brought a gun to the scene, her defense argued that she had not planned to use it until she saw Blakely ignoring her. The single bullet that killed him was fired in a moment of rage, not cold calculation.
C. The Speed of the Trial: The trial lasted only two days, and the jury deliberated for just 23 minutes. Critics argued that such haste did not allow for a full examination of the mitigating circumstances.
D. The Double Standard: Some observers noted that male killers who claimed to have acted in “crimes of passion” were often shown leniency, while Ellis was condemned. This double standard fueled accusations of sexism in the legal system.
7. The Aftermath: The Abolitionist Movement Gains Momentum
Ellis’s execution did not end the debate – it intensified it. The public outcry over her death helped galvanize the movement to abolish capital punishment in Britain.
In 1957, Parliament passed the Homicide Act, which restricted the death penalty to certain categories of murder (such as murder of a police officer, murder during a robbery, or multiple murders). This effectively ended the mandatory death sentence for all murder convictions.
In 1965, Parliament voted to suspend the death penalty for an experimental five-year period. The suspension was made permanent in 1969, and the death penalty was formally abolished for murder in 1970 (with full abolition for all crimes in 1998).
Ruth Ellis was the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Her death marked the beginning of the end for capital punishment in the United Kingdom.
8. The Legacy of Ruth Ellis
More than sixty years after her execution, Ruth Ellis remains a haunting figure in British history. Her story has been the subject of books, documentaries, and a major motion picture (Dance with a Stranger, 1985). To some, she is a cold-blooded killer who deserved her fate. To others, she is a tragic victim of a justice system that failed to understand the realities of domestic abuse.
In 2003, a formal request was made for a posthumous pardon. The Court of Appeal rejected the request, ruling that Ellis had indeed committed murder under the law as it stood at the time. However, the judges acknowledged that if the case were tried today, Ellis might well have been convicted of manslaughter rather than murder, due to diminished responsibility.
The case continues to resonate because it asks difficult questions: Can a woman who kills her abuser be considered a murderer? Does a history of suffering mitigate the act of killing? And should the state take the life of someone who has already been broken by life?
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Ruth Ellis was not a monster. She was a deeply wounded woman who, after years of abuse and betrayal, finally snapped. She took a life, and for that, she paid with her own. But her execution did more than end a single life – it opened the nation’s eyes to the inhumanity of capital punishment and helped pave the way for its abolition.
Today, Ruth Ellis rests in an unmarked grave within the walls of Holloway Prison – a prison that no longer houses an execution chamber. The gallows are gone. But the questions her case raised remain. And as long as those questions are asked, Ruth Ellis will not be forgotten.
Primary Sources:
Old Bailey Court Records – Trial of Ruth Ellis (June 1955)
Albert Pierrepoint, Executioner: Pierrepoint (1974)
The National Archives (UK) – Home Office files on Ruth Ellis
The Times and The Guardian – Contemporary coverage of the trial and execution (1955)
Hansard – Parliamentary debates on capital punishment (1955–1965)
Dance with a Stranger – Film based on the case (1985)
Wikipedia – Ruth Ellis / Execution of Ruth Ellis