The troubling story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman in the UK to receive the death penalty

'There is no way she would have been found guilty of murder in today’s courts’

On July 13, 1955, a crowd of 500 people gathered outside Holloway Prison in support of Ruth Ellis on the day of her death. 

Referred to as a ‘brave woman’ by her own executioner Albert Pierrepoint, the 28-year-old’s final moments were shrouded in controversy.

Having been found guilty of fatally shooting her lover, the court’s ruling for Ellis to be given the death penalty provoked huge public outcry – even paving its repeal, which saw the punishment outlawed in 1965. 

It’s been almost 70 years since Ruth was killed, but interest in the story behind the last woman in the UK to be hanged has yet to subside. Films, books and documentaries have all been made over the years to tell her tragic tale, with ITV’s A Cruel Love- The Ruth Ellis Story starring Lucy Boynton the latest offering.

‘People are so fascinated with the story because it is totally Shakespearean; it’s about murder, class, love and betrayal,’ explains Dominic Utton, the author of crime book ‘Faces of Evil’.

He tells Metro: ‘Ruth was also a pretty incredible woman when you get to know the story. She had this terrible abusive upbringing and went on to have a really hard life. She kept getting knocked down, yet each time she pulled herself up and tried to get out, to try and make something of herself.’

Born in Wales in 1926, Ruth faced a difficult childhood. Her father’s occupation as a cellist meant the family had to move regularly and often found it difficult to make ends meet. By 14, she had left school and worked multiple jobs – from machine minder to waitress – in a bid to help support her family.

And, behind closed doors, Ruth’s father was abusing both her and her sister Muriel, the latter who shockingly gave birth to her father’s baby. 

By 17, Ruth was part of London’s seedy social scene and had become a nude model at the Camera Club and the Court Club situated in the heart of Soho. That same year she became a single parent to her son Andy, whose father was a married Canadian soldier. Ruth worked tirelessly to support herself and her son, but began to drink excessively and took on jobs as a sex worker. 

One regular client at the Court Club caught her eye and, in 1950, she married George Johnston Ellis. They had a daughter, Georgina, but the marriage soon broke down as George had doubts if the little girl was truly his.  

Desperate for money again, Ruth felt she had had no choice but to return to the squalid setting of London’s nightlife, where she put six-year-old Georgina up for adoption.

It was upon Ruth’s return to London where she met both David Blakely and Desmond Cullen, two men who would both change her life forever. 

Driven by money and women, successful racing-car driver Blakely, 25, took an interest in Ruth and began to pursue her. Born into a wealthy family and accumulating £7,000 in inheritance – the equivalent of £3000,6000 today-  his upbringing couldn’t have been any more different from Ruth’s. 

After becoming a couple, infidelity and abuse blighted their relationship. 

Ruth climbed the ranks of London’s clubland and worked as a club hostess in a myriad of clubs across Soho, while Blakely had multiple affairs with other women. He also became abusive. Fuelled by alcohol, he was extremely violent and would regularly punch and kick Ruth.

One beating after an evening of drinking, saw a pregnant Ruth receive a devastating blow to the stomach, causing her to miscarry. 

Although her life was bleak, soon came one silver lining: Desmond Cussen, a 25-year-old RAF pilot and director of his family business.

He and Ruth had been having a secret affair, unbeknown to Blakely. Desmond offered safety and security alongside the violent turbulence of her relationship. 

Ruth wanted revenge on Blakely. On April 10, 1955, she took a taxi from Desmond’s house to The Magdala, a pub in Hampstead Heath. 

There, she took a gun out of her handbag – a weapon which is now displayed in the Metropolitan Police Crime Museum – and shot Blakely six times. Three were shot as she stood over him. Once she was done, she didn’t try to run or hide. Instead, she accepted her fate as she was arrested by an off-duty police officer who happened to be near the scene. 

Over the next few months, Ruth, who was dubbed by the public as ‘typical west-end tart.’ She was subjected to a gendered legal system. 

The court did not take into consideration the abuse carried out by Blakely or a defence of provocation. Instead, it took just fourteen minutes to decide her fate: death by hanging. 

As news spread of Ruth’s sentence, thousands campaigned on her behalf, with the likes of Raymond Chandler, an America-British novelist, writing to The Evening Standard to express his support for Ellis. 

Ruth herself never engaged in the campaign, however her sentencing would go on to pave the way for new legislation and have a significant impact on the way society not only perceived capital punishment but also domestic abuse.

On the July 13, 1955, Ruth stood in front of her executioner Albert Pierrepoint and smiled with gentle acceptance of her fate. Seconds later, she became the last woman to be sentenced to death in the UK. 

Having hung over 430 people, her death is said to have haunted Pierrepoint.

When the Ruth Ellis case was reopened by her family again in 2003, they argued their relative had suffered from ‘battered woman syndrome’. Yet, justice remained unserved. Unable to apply the laws outlined in The Homicide Act of 1957 on the basis of diminished responsibility, Ruth remains a victim of the UK’s judicial system. 

Muriel Jakubait, the sister of Ruth Ellis who tried to re-open the case, promised to continue Ruth’s legacy and ‘fight on’ in her book ‘Ruth Ellis: My Sister’s Secret Life. 

All that is truly evident is that Ruth suffered cruel and unjust treatment by the men in her life. Abused by her father, and multiple partners, she was a woman judged by the legal system and mistreated by those who she held dearest.

The tragedy of her life affected her family deeply, George, her ex husband took his own life in 1958 and her mother was found during an attempt to gas herself in her flat. 

Reflecting on the case, author Dominic Utton adds that if it had been Blakely who had shot Ruth, it would have been a very different trial. ‘In court the defence would have said, look at her history, she was a prostitute with kids from different people… a woman with “loose morals”. There would have been a whole class thing going on.’

However, Dominic adds, he doesn’t believe that would the case happen today the verdict wouldn’t even be the same. 

‘Blakely had been beating her, while Cussen showed her how to use the gun and even drove her to the crime scene, which are huge things that would be taken into consideration,’ he says.

‘Maybe it would be considered manslaughter, but there is no way she would have been found guilty of murder in today’s courts.’

Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing Claie.Wilson@metro.co.uk 

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