Last woman executed in Britain for killing abusive lover is given a conditional pardon

Last woman executed in Britain for killing abusive lover is given a conditional pardon 1 of 2 | Platinum Blonde Model Ruth Ellis is shown in 1955 photo. (AP Photo, file) 2 of 2 | Mrs. Ruth Ellis, 28-year-old divorcee sentenced to hang on July 13 for killing her lover because he jilted her, passed up the last chance to appeal her sentence in London on July 4, 1955. (AP Photo, file) 1 of 2 | Platinum Blonde Model Ruth Ellis is shown in 1955 photo. (AP Photo, file) 1 of 2 Platinum Blonde Model Ruth Ellis is shown in 1955 photo. (AP Photo, file) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share 2 of 2 | Mrs. Ruth Ellis, 28-year-old divorcee sentenced to hang on July 13 for killing her lover because he jilted her, passed up the last chance to appeal her sentence in London on July 4, 1955. (AP Photo, file) 2 of 2 Mrs. Ruth Ellis, 28-year-old divorcee sentenced to hang on July 13 for killing her lover because he jilted her, passed up the last chance to appeal her sentence in London on July 4, 1955. (AP Photo, file) Add AP News on Google Add AP News as your preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Share Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year] London (AP) — The last woman to be executed in Britain, for gunning down her abusive lover outside a London pub more than 70 years ago, will be conditionally pardoned, Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said Wednesday.Ruth Ellis, a 28-year-old single mother and nightclub hostess, was hanged on July 13, 1955, for the murder of race-car driver David Blakely. She shot him outside the Magdala pub in the Hampstead neighborhood on April 10, 1955.“While the pardon does not claim she was innocent of killing David Blakely, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment to recognize a profound injustice in this exceptional case,” Lammy said.The killing and trial caused a sensation, and Ellis became a cause celebre. When she went to the gallows, 1,000 people held a silent vigil outside Holloway Prison in north London.Her case is believed to have changed British law. At trial, she was not allowed to argue that she acted because of the emotional impact of abuse. Two years after the hanging, Parliament passed a law allowing a diminished responsibility defense. The pardon was sought by her grandchildren, who have long fought to reduce her conviction because the repeated sexual, emotional and physical abuse Ellis endured was not considered during the trial or afterward, when she could have been granted a reprieve from the death penalty.