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On this day: Ruth Ellis, last woman to be executed in UK, shoots lover David Blakely

The 28-year-old blonde model and nightclub hostess had been involved with Blakely for two years but their relationship was marked by infidelity on both sides and domestic violence on his.

On this day: Ruth Ellis, last woman to be executed in UK, shoots lover David Blakely

April 10: Driven to desperation by an abusive and drunk partner, Ruth Ellis - the last woman to be hanged in the UK - shot and killed her lover David Blakely.

The 28-year-old blonde model and nightclub hostess had been involved with Blakely for two years but their relationship was marked by infidelity on both sides and domestic violence on his.

Her partner, a racing driver and three years her junior, was a violent drunk and had caused her to miscarry by punching her in the stomach just ten days before the killing in 1955.

It is not known what was in the troubled young woman's mind as she put a gun in her bag and went to a pub in Hampstead where Blakely was drinking with a friend.

She waited outside for him and finally at 9:30pm Blakely and his friend emerged from the pub and went to the car.

Ellis ambushed him and fired her first shot - but she missed. As he sought cover behind the car she pursued him and her second shot met her target, causing him to collapse onto the pavement. Standing over him she fired three more bullets into his body, killing him.


The high-profile case received much attention as it became clear she would face the death penalty if found guilty. The model from Wales took full responsibility for the crime throughout her trial and she was found guilty of murder at the Old Bailey in London on June 21.

Less than a month later she was hanged at Holloway Prison.

The debate surrounding the death penalty had been gaining momentum at this time and the case of the skinny murderous woman captured the imagination of the British public. This Pathé clip shows the nation torn in two regarding whether Ellis should have faced execution or not.

Somber crowds wait outside Holloway Prison as the narrator asks: "Should a woman hang? Should anyone hang at all? Or should there be degrees of murder?"

The death penalty in the UK was suspended in 1965 and finally removed in 1970.

Since her murder Ellis's family have campaigned for her murder conviction to be reduced to manslaughter on the ground of provocation.