Ruth Ellis, described in reports as the last woman executed in Britain, is granted a conditional pardon more than seven decades after her hanging. Multiple outlets report that the King accepts the government’s advice to grant the pardon and that the decision is made posthumously. The pardon is described as conditional rather than a full unconditional exoneration.
Evening Standard and The Independent quote Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy, who says the government hopes the measure brings peace to Ruth Ellis’s family. Other coverage, including Manchester Evening News, notes the passage of time and that Ellis was 28 when she was executed. International reporting from ABC News similarly attributes the announcement to Lammy.
Across sources, the central point is the government’s advice to the King and the resulting conditional pardon, presented as an effort to offer closure to her relatives rather than as a change to historical record through a criminal-law reopening.
