“Ruth was a victim of sustained and brutal abuse. Her children – our mother and uncle – never recovered. My uncle took his own life; my mother’s trauma left her unable to be the parent we needed. The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.”
“A conditional pardon does not affect the conviction itself but substitutes the sentence imposed by the court with a lesser penalty. For Ellis, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment.”
She was subject to severe domestic abuse, which would have constituted a lower sentence had she had a fair trial.
It was different times back then.
She admitted she shot him and that under English law means that there was only one course left open to Judge Havers.
Havers later expressed regret over the execution, believing it was a crime of passion. He wrote to the Home Secretary recommending a reprieve, but his request was denied. After the trial, he provided financial support for the upkeep of Ellis's son.
The only positive thing from the sentencing was the death of Ruth Ellis sparked public outrage and led to significant changes in the law regarding diminished responsibility in 1957
I was pleased to see my kid's school is using the case in history class this term. It's important that each generation learn why we did away with the death penalty.
A case can be made that it is an argument against mandated punishment instead of being left up to the judge but it it's not a case of mistaken conviction or state misconduct.
It was a different world. It’s horrible that it happened but it’s because of these miscarriages of justice that we enjoy the protections we enjoy today.
In an ideal world we get things right the first time but that’s just not reality and the best thing we can do is make sure we never forget people like Ruth Ellis or Derek Bentley and their stories so we never return to being that cruel.
I agree but the statue on top of the Old Bailey has justice with a sword in one hand and the scales in the other.
The point I am trying to make is she is blindfolded meaning the impartiality of the law.
The Judges hands were tied.
She admitted she meant to kill him and so he had to pass a sentence he did not agree with.
The Home Secretary is the “villain” in this story who happened to be Loyd George and that speaks volumes.
We had a similar thing happen in Wales with Vivian Teed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Teed
Vivian beat a man to death with a hammer, hitting him 27 times whilst robbing a shop in Swansea. Unfortunately Vivian seems to have had a personality disorder, but he was still hung for the crime. It was quite controversial because of his mental state.
There were a few cases in the run-up to the death penalty being abolished that caused people to drop support of it.
Another couple was the Derek Bentley that was hanged for being an accessory to the murder of a police officer and of Timothy Evans who was framed by serial killer John Christie.
That’s a totally different situation. I can’t see how anyone would have sympathy for Teed. I’m against capital punishment, but just because he was mentally ill doesn’t automatically mean he is somehow less responsible for what he did.
It's to set a standard going forward. The courts of today no longer believe this was a fair ruling, which they can use in the future as an example for similar cases
How is this the right thing? Telling a 70-year-dead defendant that their sentence would have been life in prison instead of the death penalty if the trial happened today, which is already true because they don’t have the death penalty anymore
>The impact of the abuse on Ellis’s emotional state was not considered during the trial. The judge told the jury to disregard the fact she had been “badly treated by her lover” as a defence.
>The defence of diminished responsibility only became part of the law in 1957 and loss of control was only introduced in 2010 as a replacement for the defence of provocation.
So it would not have mattered.
Personally i am against the death penalty altogether, but the battered wife defense is oftentimes misused, and it does not substitute as an excuse for murder.
From wikpedia:
>On Easter Sunday, 10 April 1955,[16] Ellis took a taxi from Cussen's home to a second-floor flat at 29 Tanza Road, Hampstead, the home of Anthony and Carole Findlater, where she suspected Blakely might be. As she arrived, Blakely's car drove off, so she paid the taxi and walked the 1⁄4 mile (400 m) to The Magdala public house in South Hill Park, where she found his car parked outside.
>The Magdala pub in 2008. Two "bullet holes" in the wall at lower left were drilled by the pub's landlady in the 1990s.[17]
At around 9:30 pm, Blakely and his friend Clive Gunnell emerged. Blakely passed Ellis, who was waiting on the pavement, when she stepped out of the doorway of Henshaw's, a newsagent next to The Magdala. As Blakely searched for the keys to his car,[18] Ellis took a .38 calibre Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolver from her handbag and fired five shots at him. The first shot missed. She pursued Blakely as he ran around the car, firing a second shot that caused him to collapse onto the pavement. She then stood over him and fired three more bullets, one discharged less than half an inch from his back, leaving powder burns on his skin.
In other words, she took a taxi, waited for him, shot him multiple times, and pursued him when he tried to run. That is premeditated, planned murder. It is not a heat in the moment deal, it's not a fact of her feeling her life is threatened. She sat there and waited to murder him.
Geez, what a tragic and awful story from beginning to end. To go through all that in her twenties. And the trauma that her family left behind had to endure. Horrible.
The condition pardon is *something* but the victims deserve better.
If you read about the case then it’s pretty clear that Blakely, the man she killed, had subjected her to a sustained campaign of domestic violence, including inducing a miscarriage by punching her in the stomach. Had the case happened later she would almost certainly have received a great deal more public sympathy and a lower punishment. Combined with her incredibly traumatic early life the entire case serves as an illustration of the callous disregard that society in general had towards women in the 1950s. The impact that her execution had on her former husband, mother, and son - all dying from suicide or the longer-term effects of botched attempts - adds a further layer of tragedy.
Incidentally if you want to watch one of the most Alan Partridgesque moments in TV history just go on YouTube and find the video of Michael Barrymore interviewing her daughter.
>Had the case happened later she would almost certainly have received a great deal more public sympathy and a lower punishment
Murder (which she absolutely committed and admitted to) still carries a mandatory life sentence. You cant just murder a man because of alleged domestic abuse
That's not quite correct. The circumstances of domestic abuse can amount to a defence to murder.
The Guardian has an interesting article about the progression of the law on this: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jun/18/landmarks-in-law-the-case-that-shone-a-spotlight-on-domestic-violence
A sad story that had a desperate ending, back then. This pardon should make a different her grandchildren and their children by having a black mark hanging over Ruth removed. A little ray or glimmer in the darkness.
" Ellis’s granddaughter Laura Enston said: “This pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken – the children left behind, the years lost. But it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed; that the justice system failed her. That acknowledgement matters profoundly to our family.
“Ruth was a victim of sustained and brutal abuse. Her children – our mother and uncle – never recovered. My uncle took his own life; my mother’s trauma left her unable to be the parent we needed. The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.” "
"
Enston said: “We are deeply grateful to the justice secretary for having the courage to act. We hope Ruth’s story serves as a lasting reminder that the justice system must reckon with the abuse that drives women to the edge – and must never be afraid to acknowledge when it has got things wrong.”"
Is there a single shred of evidence for this so called abuse? And even if the abuse is true it hardly justifies pre meditated cold blooded murder. Its ridiculous that Lammy has spent a single minute on this farce
Justice is blind. Sometimes prejudice exploits that blindness. Judgement can only be passed based on the evidence presented. Withholding evidence, not using evidence in defense, not finding evidence, and the personal biases of the judge and jury can all result in the same failure.
A sad story that had a desperate ending, back then. This pardon should make a different her grandchildren and their children by having a black mark hanging over Ruth removed. A little ray or glimmer in the darkness.
What I don't understand is why commute the sentence to live in prison now? She died in 1955. I have seen it before, but I just don't get why to do that since it's well past doing any good. I know people felt bad at the time, even the judge, and wanted it not to happen, but it did.
A conditional pardon is mostly a face-saving bureaucratic gesture so the government can acknowledge the miscarriage of justice without opening the floodgates for formal posthumous appeals across that entire era
[OP] KewpieCutie97 | 3 hours ago
Reminder that this is a history subreddit and comments need to actually add something of value to discussion.
Low effort comments and jokes will be removed. Just don't.
futureformerteacher | 3 hours ago
That statement by the grandchildren is brutal.
Ballardinian | 2 hours ago
“Ruth was a victim of sustained and brutal abuse. Her children – our mother and uncle – never recovered. My uncle took his own life; my mother’s trauma left her unable to be the parent we needed. The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.”
So much suffering flowed from this.
King_of_the_Goats | 3 hours ago
Read her wiki if you haven’t, woman had a very rough life from the start. Her father was a monster.
weabooyeet | 7 minutes ago
wait why grnt a conditional pardon now
notyourvader | 3 hours ago
“A conditional pardon does not affect the conviction itself but substitutes the sentence imposed by the court with a lesser penalty. For Ellis, it replaces the death penalty with a sentence of life imprisonment.”
She was subject to severe domestic abuse, which would have constituted a lower sentence had she had a fair trial.
Soppydogg | 3 hours ago
It was different times back then.
She admitted she shot him and that under English law means that there was only one course left open to Judge Havers.
Havers later expressed regret over the execution, believing it was a crime of passion. He wrote to the Home Secretary recommending a reprieve, but his request was denied. After the trial, he provided financial support for the upkeep of Ellis's son.
The only positive thing from the sentencing was the death of Ruth Ellis sparked public outrage and led to significant changes in the law regarding diminished responsibility in 1957
RecognitionHeavy8274 | 3 hours ago
Feels bad when the literal judge is asking for leniency and gets denied.
Software_Dependent | 3 hours ago
The jury asked for mercy regarding Derek Bentley and none was given.
Jimmni | an hour ago
Such a sad case and such a compelling argument against capital punishment,
JamesCDiamond | 44 minutes ago
The only one needed, as far as I'm concerned.
I was pleased to see my kid's school is using the case in history class this term. It's important that each generation learn why we did away with the death penalty.
JACCO2008 | 29 minutes ago
No it isn't lol. She was guilty.
A case can be made that it is an argument against mandated punishment instead of being left up to the judge but it it's not a case of mistaken conviction or state misconduct.
Jimmni | 13 minutes ago
He. And his guilt was extremely questionable.
NorysStorys | 3 hours ago
It was a different world. It’s horrible that it happened but it’s because of these miscarriages of justice that we enjoy the protections we enjoy today.
In an ideal world we get things right the first time but that’s just not reality and the best thing we can do is make sure we never forget people like Ruth Ellis or Derek Bentley and their stories so we never return to being that cruel.
Soppydogg | 29 minutes ago
I agree but the statue on top of the Old Bailey has justice with a sword in one hand and the scales in the other.
The point I am trying to make is she is blindfolded meaning the impartiality of the law.
The Judges hands were tied.
She admitted she meant to kill him and so he had to pass a sentence he did not agree with.
The Home Secretary is the “villain” in this story who happened to be Loyd George and that speaks volumes.
Welshhoppo | 3 hours ago
We had a similar thing happen in Wales with Vivian Teed https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Teed
Vivian beat a man to death with a hammer, hitting him 27 times whilst robbing a shop in Swansea. Unfortunately Vivian seems to have had a personality disorder, but he was still hung for the crime. It was quite controversial because of his mental state.
Vectorman1989 | 2 hours ago
There were a few cases in the run-up to the death penalty being abolished that caused people to drop support of it.
Another couple was the Derek Bentley that was hanged for being an accessory to the murder of a police officer and of Timothy Evans who was framed by serial killer John Christie.
stephen1547 | 45 minutes ago
That’s a totally different situation. I can’t see how anyone would have sympathy for Teed. I’m against capital punishment, but just because he was mentally ill doesn’t automatically mean he is somehow less responsible for what he did.
Welshhoppo | 12 minutes ago
It's because the law at the time meant that for someone who broke into a property and committed manslaughter, the only punishment was death.
There was no room for mitigating circumstances for a man who probably should have spent his life being medically watched. He had to be put to death.
The Homicide Act of 1957
Under the Act there remained five categories of murder for which the death sentence was still mandatory, viz:
Murder committed in the course or furtherance of theft.
Murder by shooting or explosion.
Murder whilst resisting arrest or during an escape.
Murder of a police or prison officer.
Two murders committed on different occasions.
That's why it's controversial.
Rhyers | an hour ago
Yeah... I'm not feeling a whole lot of sympathy for this one.
JACCO2008 | 26 minutes ago
What is it with you people handwaving a crime like murder with "personality disorder" or "bad childhood"
Those things do not mean they didn't know what they were doing or should not be held accountable. Asinine.
ChaosOnline | 3 hours ago
A conditional pardon feels like a comically empty gesture to someone who was executed. A lesser sentence? How? They're already dead.
Prodigle | 3 hours ago
It's to set a standard going forward. The courts of today no longer believe this was a fair ruling, which they can use in the future as an example for similar cases
Caesars_Comet | 3 hours ago
But the death penalty no longer exists and a life sentence is mandatory for murder in the UK. It has zero value as a precedent.
Cherrystuffs | 2 hours ago
Then they're doing it because it's the right thing. Jfc what is wrong with you negative nancies everywhere
AntonineWall | 2 hours ago
How is this the right thing? Telling a 70-year-dead defendant that their sentence would have been life in prison instead of the death penalty if the trial happened today, which is already true because they don’t have the death penalty anymore
Like who is this for?
TopShelfWrister | 2 hours ago
It's symbolic. There's value to others in symbolism.
jhairehmyah | an hour ago
If you read the article, the descendants of Ellis clearly found this meaningful, so maybe there is your answer.
If you were one of her descendants, perhaps you would not care, but to them, this was important. So your opinion doesn’t matter.
Caesars_Comet | 2 hours ago
I don't think it is the right thing because it is too little, too late.
I think reducing the conviction to manslaughter would be more approprate given the facts of the case.
aethelberga | 2 hours ago
Because it's completely performative.
ActualRound7699 | 3 hours ago
this is what I came to say. like? thanks I guess….for all the good it does now.
WonFriendsWithSalad | 3 hours ago
Her grandchildren lobbied for it. It's important to them
liaminwales | 3 hours ago
It's a performance for PR & get some good press for gov, cant think of any other motivation to spend time on the case?
secretly_a_zombie | 32 minutes ago
>The impact of the abuse on Ellis’s emotional state was not considered during the trial. The judge told the jury to disregard the fact she had been “badly treated by her lover” as a defence.
>The defence of diminished responsibility only became part of the law in 1957 and loss of control was only introduced in 2010 as a replacement for the defence of provocation.
So it would not have mattered.
Personally i am against the death penalty altogether, but the battered wife defense is oftentimes misused, and it does not substitute as an excuse for murder.
From wikpedia:
>On Easter Sunday, 10 April 1955,[16] Ellis took a taxi from Cussen's home to a second-floor flat at 29 Tanza Road, Hampstead, the home of Anthony and Carole Findlater, where she suspected Blakely might be. As she arrived, Blakely's car drove off, so she paid the taxi and walked the 1⁄4 mile (400 m) to The Magdala public house in South Hill Park, where she found his car parked outside.
>The Magdala pub in 2008. Two "bullet holes" in the wall at lower left were drilled by the pub's landlady in the 1990s.[17] At around 9:30 pm, Blakely and his friend Clive Gunnell emerged. Blakely passed Ellis, who was waiting on the pavement, when she stepped out of the doorway of Henshaw's, a newsagent next to The Magdala. As Blakely searched for the keys to his car,[18] Ellis took a .38 calibre Smith & Wesson Victory Model revolver from her handbag and fired five shots at him. The first shot missed. She pursued Blakely as he ran around the car, firing a second shot that caused him to collapse onto the pavement. She then stood over him and fired three more bullets, one discharged less than half an inch from his back, leaving powder burns on his skin.
In other words, she took a taxi, waited for him, shot him multiple times, and pursued him when he tried to run. That is premeditated, planned murder. It is not a heat in the moment deal, it's not a fact of her feeling her life is threatened. She sat there and waited to murder him.
CharlesP2009 | 3 hours ago
Geez, what a tragic and awful story from beginning to end. To go through all that in her twenties. And the trauma that her family left behind had to endure. Horrible.
The condition pardon is *something* but the victims deserve better.
Grimreap32 | 34 minutes ago
The victims are dead... The descendants are not. The question is how long do you appease a family for something done in the past?
Mrgray123 | 3 hours ago
If you read about the case then it’s pretty clear that Blakely, the man she killed, had subjected her to a sustained campaign of domestic violence, including inducing a miscarriage by punching her in the stomach. Had the case happened later she would almost certainly have received a great deal more public sympathy and a lower punishment. Combined with her incredibly traumatic early life the entire case serves as an illustration of the callous disregard that society in general had towards women in the 1950s. The impact that her execution had on her former husband, mother, and son - all dying from suicide or the longer-term effects of botched attempts - adds a further layer of tragedy.
Incidentally if you want to watch one of the most Alan Partridgesque moments in TV history just go on YouTube and find the video of Michael Barrymore interviewing her daughter.
chriscringlesmother | 3 hours ago
What a bonkers interview. That lady was not ready to be on TV.
No-Sheepherder5481 | 2 hours ago
>Had the case happened later she would almost certainly have received a great deal more public sympathy and a lower punishment
Murder (which she absolutely committed and admitted to) still carries a mandatory life sentence. You cant just murder a man because of alleged domestic abuse
AntonineWall | 2 hours ago
Could you do it for non-alleged domestic abuse? That qualifier doesn’t seem needed here
HerrManHerrLucifer | an hour ago
That's not quite correct. The circumstances of domestic abuse can amount to a defence to murder.
The Guardian has an interesting article about the progression of the law on this: https://www.theguardian.com/law/2019/jun/18/landmarks-in-law-the-case-that-shone-a-spotlight-on-domestic-violence
velveteenelahrairah | 33 minutes ago
Have you ever been abused?
JACCO2008 | 22 minutes ago
>illustration of the callous disregard that society in general had towards women in the 1950s.
Oh look. More historical revisionism. And it's not even accurate revisionism.
The history profession is in massive trouble.
colorme1965 | 3 hours ago
This is just as good as offering her £50 million, for her pain and suffering. All she has to do is show up to collect it.. /s
Poor woman. Instead of help, they gave her more pain.
jake_burger | 3 hours ago
Having a formal record of death penalties being overturned serves as a good reminder to people that they shouldn’t be re-instated.
Laymanao | 2 hours ago
A sad story that had a desperate ending, back then. This pardon should make a different her grandchildren and their children by having a black mark hanging over Ruth removed. A little ray or glimmer in the darkness.
No-Sheepherder5481 | 3 hours ago
Seems completely pointless.
"We still think you murdered him but we're commuting your death sentence to life imprisonment" (she was executed over 70 years ago)
MysteriousB | 3 hours ago
Not fully pointless, just an attempt by the state to avoid being sued by descendants I suppose
ContentsMayVary | 3 hours ago
It was in response to her descendants asking for the pardon: Grandchildren of Ruth Ellis, last woman to be hanged in UK, ask for pardon | Crime | The Guardian
masta030 | 3 hours ago
If only people read the article, the grandchildren were grateful for the result
Real_Reflection_3260 | 3 hours ago
The Quote
" Ellis’s granddaughter Laura Enston said: “This pardon does not undo what happened 71 years ago. It does not restore the lives that were broken – the children left behind, the years lost. But it says, formally and finally, that Ruth should not have been executed; that the justice system failed her. That acknowledgement matters profoundly to our family.
“Ruth was a victim of sustained and brutal abuse. Her children – our mother and uncle – never recovered. My uncle took his own life; my mother’s trauma left her unable to be the parent we needed. The shadow of Ruth’s execution has fallen across two generations. We have carried shame that was never ours to bear.” "
masta030 | 3 hours ago
Scroll a bit further in the article
" Enston said: “We are deeply grateful to the justice secretary for having the courage to act. We hope Ruth’s story serves as a lasting reminder that the justice system must reckon with the abuse that drives women to the edge – and must never be afraid to acknowledge when it has got things wrong.”"
The granddaughter herself used the word grateful
No-Sheepherder5481 | 2 hours ago
Is there a single shred of evidence for this so called abuse? And even if the abuse is true it hardly justifies pre meditated cold blooded murder. Its ridiculous that Lammy has spent a single minute on this farce
accepts_compliments | an hour ago
Yeah, seems more about repairing their grandma's reputation than anything tangible. I'd probably want the same if I were in their position.
No_Introduction_3542 | an hour ago
"If only people read the article"
This is Reddit. You're asking too much...
masta030 | an hour ago
Oh, I know, the amount of outraged comments on posts that are easily explained or dismissed by the article always makes me laugh
The_Power_Of_Three | 3 hours ago
In what universe should this protect them?
sighthoundman | 3 hours ago
Maybe a universe where the descendants actually have a case?
LeoSolaris | 3 hours ago
Justice is blind. Sometimes prejudice exploits that blindness. Judgement can only be passed based on the evidence presented. Withholding evidence, not using evidence in defense, not finding evidence, and the personal biases of the judge and jury can all result in the same failure.
Laymanao | 2 hours ago
A sad story that had a desperate ending, back then. This pardon should make a different her grandchildren and their children by having a black mark hanging over Ruth removed. A little ray or glimmer in the darkness.
CJArgus | an hour ago
Conditional on what? Good behavior?
Truffleshuffle03 | 23 minutes ago
What I don't understand is why commute the sentence to live in prison now? She died in 1955. I have seen it before, but I just don't get why to do that since it's well past doing any good. I know people felt bad at the time, even the judge, and wanted it not to happen, but it did.
Singer211 | 9 minutes ago
She definitely committed the crime (she never really even tried to defend herself afterwards).
But there’s so many mitigating factors that a death sentence was still unjust imo.
HabANahDa | an hour ago
Oh wow. Glad they lowered her sentence to life in prison AFTER they hanged her smh
depredador93 | 41 minutes ago
A conditional pardon is mostly a face-saving bureaucratic gesture so the government can acknowledge the miscarriage of justice without opening the floodgates for formal posthumous appeals across that entire era