Latest news with #RuthEllis
Daily Mirror
15-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Period drama with 100% Rotten Tomatoes rating is 'all you'd ever want'
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story is a true crime drama that was released on ITVX earlier this year and has recently made its way to ITV's streaming service ITVX The ITV miniseries set in the 1950s has captured viewers' attention, with many labelling it a 'must-watch'. The show dives into the riveting true-to-life saga of Ruth Ellis—a tale dramatised over four compelling episodes in A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story. The historical drama stars Lucy Boynton as Ruth Ellis, depicting her downfall as the fateful final woman to meet her end by hanging in Britain. Ruth Ellis was a Welsh nightclub hostess before she became infamous for the murder of her ex-lover, sealing her fate as the last woman to face capital punishment in the UK. On a fateful Easter Sunday in 1955, Ellis coldly shot David Blakely outside a Hampstead pub. Her actions swiftly led to her arrest. Her trial resulted in a conviction for wilful and premeditated murder, and she faced not merely a term behind bars but the gallows. July 13th marked her execution at Holloway Prison, ending an era of such sentences, reports the Express. Giving their thumbs-up to the series, a Rotten Tomatoes critic said: "Brilliantly made limited series! Acting is phenomenal. A must-watch." Another viewer hinted at potential awards acclaim, suggesting the drama was "BAFTA stuff". One review reads: "Just watch this, as it's BAFTA stuff, and it will get both Lucy and Toby Jones more nominations for awards, plus maybe Ruth's case will be reviewed and she'll be finally pardoned." Starring alongside Boynton is Toby Jones, a renowned British film star, who portrays John Bickford, the solicitor instrumental in aiding Ellis during her trial. The Times praised Jones, stating that the 58 year old actor should take pride in his "quietly haunting performance". Meanwhile, others have commented that watching him on screen is always time well spent. A critic for the London Evening Standard said: "Ruth was betrayed by a system that wanted to punish her for daring to be different. At least this show gives her something approaching justice, even if it was denied her in real life." This aspect of Ellis' story is particularly compelling, as her untimely death sparked widespread controversy throughout the justice system and garnered heavy criticism from the press. In fact, her execution played a significant role in galvanizing support for the abolition of the death penalty, with the last execution of a male taking place in 1964. Despite some viewers criticizing the series for its handling of taboo subjects and historical accuracy, as well as its portrayal of real-life individuals, one review summarized: "First off, it's good. Lucy does well but is held back by poor dialogue and writing. The basic story is simple..." A viewer offered a poignant critique, saying: "Perhaps the short series is meant to reflect the swiftness of Ruth's ending, but I must admit I would have appreciated a little more of a glimpse into society's response to Ruth's hanging." For those on the hunt for their next series obsession, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story can be streamed at no cost on ITVX right now.
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Historic London pub marks 70th anniversary of Ruth Ellis becoming UK's last woman hanged for murder, after she gunned lover down outside saloon bar - amid calls for a pardon and ITV drama
Exactly 70 years after the last woman in Britain was hanged, the pub where she gunned down her abusive boyfriend will mark the occasion with a live show telling her tragic story. Ruth Ellis was put to death aged just 28 for shooting dead her violent lover, racing driver David Blakely. She was executed by hangman Albert Pierrepoint after a trial at the Old Bailey, where the jury took just 14 minutes to convict her. Pierrepoint would later describe her stoicism in the face of death, saying: 'I have seen some brave men die, but nobody braver than her.' Ellis's execution led to a worldwide uproar and played a significant role in the decision to abolish capital punishment in Britain in 1969, four years after it was suspended. The Magdala Tavern, the north London pub where Ellis shot her boyfriend, will mark the 70-year anniversary of the execution on Sunday with a live screening of a recent sold-out show about her ordeal from the Glade Theatre. The penultimate woman to be executed for murder in the UK, Styllie Christofi, had also committed the killings in the very same road, South Hill Park in upmarket Hampstead. This is also is not the first time the Magdala Tavern has hosted a performance about Ellis. In 1999 - on the anniversary then of Ellis's hanging - a week-long show about the execution was performed in the upstairs of the pub. Now Elizabeth Love, who plays Ellis in this latest show, said: 'Ruth's story shines a light on the perpetuation of trauma and abuse.' The show's producer and Glade Theatre founder Stefan Simanowitz added: 'Exactly seventy years ago, the execution of Ruth Ellis became a turning point in the movement for the abolition of the death penalty,' 'Rather being macabre, this is poignant, powerful and life-affirming piece which takes the audience on a powerful journey. ' A new ITV drama has also recently been produced exploring Ellis's tragic story, where she was portrayed by Lucy Boynton, as her family now seek a pardon for her. Her grandson, former Hollyoaks star Stephen Beard, 36, said the judge had other options besides condemning Ellis to death. He said the conclusion should have been that the case was of 'both battered woman syndrome and diminished responsibility' and has suggested that her case could be looked at again in court. Mr Beard told The Times: 'I'm not saying that Ruth should be reprieved because she did murder a man but the fact that the judge decided that the only sentence he could impose because of the admittance of premeditated murder was hanging was incorrect.' Mr Beard starred in Hollyoaks as Archie Carpenter from 2008 until 2010 He added: 'There was such a severe miscarriage of justice, which will be explained through the series, that I wonder whether there is a KC who believes there's enough substance and weight here for Ruth's case to be taken back to the courts. 'If handled professionally and mercifully, the conclusion would have been that this was a case of both battered woman syndrome and diminished responsibility.' He also pointed out that Ellis's lifestyle counted against her. She worked as a nightclub hostess, a role in which she was expected to have sex with customers if required. And she dyed her hair peroxide blonde, meaning she looked like a 'woman of the night' when in court, Mr Beard added. His mother, Georgina, was adopted after Ellis's execution. She died aged 50 in 2001. She discovered aged eight that she had been adopted. In attempting to follow in the footsteps of her real mother, she became an alcoholic and 'flirted' with the sex trade, Mr Beard said. He also pointed to a similar case of a woman who had been condemned to death after killing her neighbour with a spade, but was reprieved at the last minute. Ellis's accomplice in Blakely's killing was RAF officer Desmond Cussen, who had competed with the murder victim for her affections. Cussen gave Ellis the murder weapon and showed her how to use it. Born the fourth of five children to mother Bertha in Rhyl, North Wales, in 1926, Ellis's first misfortune was to have to fend off the sordid sexual advances of her own father. He had already abused her sister Muriel but Ellis defiantly insisted that he would not be allowed to do the same to her. By the time of the Second World War, the family had moved to London. Author Carol Ann Lee's 2012 biography of Ellis told how, in 1943, Ellis met French Canadian serviceman Clare Andrew McCallum. The couple enjoyed a brief but passionate romance that resulted in Ellis getting pregnant in early 1944. McCallum had asked his young girlfriend to marry him, and, after he had been posted to France, she gave birth to a baby boy. Ellis then discovered that her beau - who never returned - was already married with a wife and children back in Canada. She recalled a the heartbreak a decade later, saying: 'I no longer felt any emotion about men. Outwardly I was cheerful and gay. Inwardly I was cold and spent.' Ellis then set about trying to support herself and her son, Andre, financially. Ms Lee revealed in her book how Ellis 'took great pride in her appearance and would not set foot outside unless fully made up with heavy foundation, rouge and lipstick.' One evening, after being taken for a drink at one of London's new nightclubs, she met pimp and convicted fraudster Morris Conley, who offered her a job as a hostess. It was after taking on the role that Ellis, who was expected to offer both drinks and sex to customers, met her future husband, dentist George Ellis. The depressive drinker promised that he would seek help for his troubles and that vow was enough for Ellis to agree to marry him. When they tied the knot in November 1950, she shed her maiden name - Neilson - and became Ruth Ellis. However, he soon began beating his new wife. One one occasion, her mother recalled, he repeatedly banged her head against a wall. By the winter of 1951 - by which time their marriage was over - Ellis had given birth to daughter Georgina. Needing to support herself and her children, Ellis went to Conley to ask for her job back. He made her the manager of his new club in Knightsbridge and even provided her with a flat and generous salary. On the Little Club's opening night, Ellis met David Blakely for the first time. Blakely repeatedly returned and the pair became romantically involved. Within a fortnight they were living together in her flat. At the time, Blakeley's efforts were focused on his MG racing car and his passion for motor racing. Ellis was besotted with him. She said later: 'I thought the world of him; I put him on the highest of pedestals. He could do nothing wrong and I trusted him implicitly.' Her love extended to the point where she even agreed to a request by her ex-husband to give up her daughter to a wealthy childless couple he knew. However, the hostess now had another admirer in the form of Cussen, who was a regular at the Little Club. His presence on the scene likely contributed to the furious rows that broke out between Ellis and Blakely. The arguments would end with Blakely viscously beating his girlfriend. With knowledge about the love triangle now swirling around the club, Ellis was warned by Conley that she had to treat all customers equally. However, when the club's takings fell, Conley fired her. She moved in with Cussen but was then met with a marriage proposal from Blakely. Ellis became pregnant with his child, only to lose the baby after another beating. The final straw came on Good Friday in 1955, when Blakely failed to turn up to meet Ellis as he had promised. Suspecting that he was at the home of his friends Ant Findlater and his wife Carole - who was said to have hated Ellis - she asked Cussen to drive her there, where she saw his car outside. Having tried and failed to get through to him on the phone that day and the following night, she returned home humiliated. When she kissed her son goodnight the following evening, Easter Sunday, it would be the last time she saw him. She later told jurors about her feelings towards Blakley that night. 'I was very upset. I had a peculiar feeling I wanted to kill him,' she said. Meanwhile, Blakley was with Findlaters, having yet another party. When Carole ran out of cigarettes, Blakely drove to the Magdala pub near their home to get some. Taking friend Clive Gunnell, he went for a quick drink inside the pub. The pair emerged at 9.20pm. Ellis was waiting for them. When Blakley saw her he started to run. She fired an initial two shots and then chased her lover around his car before firing again. He 'fell forward flat on his face', she recalled later. Witnesses Donald and Gladys Yule - as well as Gunnell - were watching on in horror. Mrs Yule then saw Blakely lying on the pavement as Ellis fired two more shots into him. She said years later: 'I shall never forget the look of appeal in his eyes. She put two more bullets into him, deliberately. I was petrified.' Ellis then tried to take her own life with the gun, but it initially failed to fire. When it finally did - after she had brought it away from her temple - the bullet went through Mrs Yule's hand. After being arrested, Ellis insisted that she was guilty but initially protected Cussen. Instead, she said she had been given the gun by a man in a club three years earlier. When Cussen was questioned, he insisted that he had dropped her off at her rented room at 7.30pm on the night of the murder and had not seen her since. He failed to tell detectives that he had given Ellis the gun, shown her how to use it and then driven her to the murder scene. Although Cussen confessed this fact to Ellis solicitor, it was not brought up at trial over fears that it would affect her chances of being convicted of manslaughter rather than murder. Ellis rejected her lawyer's request to plead insanity. She said: 'I took David's life and I don't ask you to save mine. I don't want to live.' The mother-of-two also wrote to Blakley's mother to apologise for killing him. She said: 'The two people I blame for David's death, and my own, are the Findlayters (sic). 'No dought (sic) you will not understand this, but perhaps before I hang you will know what I mean. Please excuse my writing, but the pen is shocking. 'I implore you to try to forgive David for living with me, but we were very much in love with one and other (sic). 'Unfortunately, David was not satisfied with one woman in his life. I have forgiven David, I only wish I could have found it in my heart to have forgiven when he was alive. 'Once again, I say I am very sorry to have caused you this misery and heartache. I shall die loving your son. And you should feel content that his death has been repaid. 'Goodbye. Ruth Ellis.' With her blonde hair having faded in prison, Ellis insisted on dying it ahead of her court appearance. Despite her legal team's fears that her bleached hair would not fair well with the jury, Ellis got her wish. Judge Mr Justice Havers later described the murderess's defence as being 'so weak... it was non-existent.' He was also not convinced by Ellis's story about how she got the gun. But because her legal team had not mentioned it, the matter was not brought up in court. Much of the physical and emotional abuse she had suffered throughout her life was not even mentioned to jurors. And Judge Havers told them to ignore Blakely's own violent outbursts. He said: 'A young woman, you may think, badly treated by the deceased man. 'Nothing of that sort must enter into your consideration . . . according to our law it is no defence . . . to prove that she was a jealous woman and had been badly treated by her lover and was in ill-health.' On July 12, Ellis finally confessed to her former solicitor about Cussen's involvement. However, after a failed attempt to track down the former RAF man, the home secretary Gwilym Lloyd George refused to delay the execution. At 9am on the morning of her execution, a huge crowd was massed outside HMP Holloway, held back by a police cordon. Ellis, who the night before had read from her Bible one last time, refused breakfast and instead accepted a glass of brandy. She was hanged by the man who had put to death some of Britain's most notorious criminals, including serial killer John Christie and Nazi collaborator William Joyce. The Daily Mail's report said: 'In Holloway Prison last night the staff were saying that Ruth Ellis was the bravest woman ever to go to the gallows in Britain. 'For the 28-year-old mother who, eight hours before her execution, had broken down and pleaded for life, died calmly.' Some of her final words were revealed a few months after her death. She told The Right Reverend Joost de Blank, the Bishop of Stepney: 'It is quite clear to me that I was not the person who shot him. 'If he had cut his finger I would have come from the other end of the earth to bind it up. 'When I saw myself with that revolver in my hand shooting him five times, I knew that I was another person from the person I am.' Andre, Ellis's son, became a schizophrenic and drug addict and took his own life in 1982 - his funeral was paid for by Christopher Humphreys, the prosecuting lawyer at Ruth's trial. The new ITV drama aired in four parts, starring Laurie Davidson as Blakely, Mark Stanley as Cussen and Toby Jones as John Bickford, Ellis's solicitor. Her lawyer, Melford Stevenson, was portrayed by Toby Stephens.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The true story of Ruth Ellis and why she was Britain's last woman to be hanged
ITV's latest drama series based on a true story will be arriving on the channel soon, chronicling part of the life of Ruth Ellis. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story will begin airing on Wednesday, March 5 about a significant point in British history. Ellis became the last woman to be hanged in the UK in 1955 after she fatally shot her abusive boyfriend David Blakely. The series will explore the events that led to the shooting and her subsequent legal fight. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story tells the heartbreaking true tale of the last woman hanged in Britain. Based on true events, this gripping four-part drama series, starring Lucy Boynton and Toby Jones, is coming soon to ITV and ITVX. — ITV (@ITV) February 17, 2025 Lucy Boynton stars as Ruth Ellis with other cast members in the series including Toby Jones, Laurie Davidson, Arthur Darvill and Juliet Stevenson. Some viewers may not be aware of Ruth Ellis's story so here's all you need to know. Ruth Ellis was born Ruth Neilson on October 9, 1926, in the town of Rhyl in Wales, and was the fifth of six children to Bertha Goethals and Arthur Hornby. She moved to Basingstoke with her family during her childhood with her upbringing being blighted by sexual abuse at the hands of her father. Ruth left school when she was 14 and in 1941 she befriended Edna Turvey, the girlfriend of her older brother Julian, who was on leave from service in the Royal Navy. The Standard reports that Edna introduced her to "a racy life of alcohol and men" and a few years later she found herself pregnant at the age of 17. It adds: "The father was a married Canadian soldier, Clare Andrea McCallum – and while she kept the baby (whom she called Clare Andria, or Andy) – the relationship didn't survive and Ruth found herself working factory jobs to support herself and her son." Towards the end of the 1940s, Ruth was partaking in sex work, starting with nude modelling, before becoming a nightclub hostess in Hampstead. The captivating #LucyBoynton stars in intoxicating new drama, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story. Set in 1955 in the glamorous world of London clubland, this series exposes the timeless British obsessions of class, sex and death. Coming soon to #ITV and #ITVX. — ITV (@ITV) February 19, 2024 By early 1950, Ruth was making money as a full-service escort and in November of that year married George Johnston Ellis, a 41-year-old divorced dentist. George was an alcoholic and the relationship became violent with George being convinced that Ruth was cheating on him. When their daughter Georgina was born in 1951, he refused to acknowledge her as his own, with the pair splitting up shortly after. Ruth returned to sex work but by 1953 she had started working at the Little Club, a Knightsbridge hotspot. The Standard adds: "A driven Ruth took elocution and etiquette classes, and soon found herself promoted to manager – making her one of the youngest women to do so at 27. "The job came with money, celebrity friends and status, and this was where Ellis met David Blakely, the man she would ultimately kill." Blakely was a racing driver and after only a few weeks of knowing Ruth moved into her flat despite being engaged to another woman. Ruth also began seeing another man: Desmond Cussen, a former RAF pilot turned accountant. Sacked from the Little Club after her behaviour went downhill, Ruth left her flat and moved into Cussen's house near Oxford Street, but continued to see Blakely. However, the pair struggled to reconcile their own relationship and began seeing other people. The relationship became violent, with Blakely often attacking Ruth after he had been drinking. The Standard adds: "This culminated in an incident in January, 1955, where he punched Ruth in the stomach so hard that she miscarried." A few months later Ruth shot Blakely outside the Magdala Tavern in Hampstead where she was quickly arrested. The Radio Times adds: "Aged 28, she killed her lover, 25-year-old David Blakely, on 10th April 1955 in front of the Magdala Tavern in Hampstead, London. She was immediately arrested, and the jury took just over 20 minutes to reach a guilty verdict." When the murder verdict was passed and Ruth sentenced, there was a public outcry and almost immediately, calls for a reprieve began. Recommended reading: What happened to Delia Balmer and John Sweeney and where are they now? Who is Chloe Ayling and what happened to her amid her kidnapping incident? Everything to know on ITV's The Bay Series 5 starring Marsha Thomason Despite calls for a reprieve the decision was not reversed and Ruth was hanged in Holloway Prison on July 13, 1955. She was buried in an unmarked grave on the grounds of the prison but later reburied at St Mary's Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. The Standard reports: "Ruth's death had a profound effect on the way the British public, and the rest of the world, saw the death penalty." The death penalty itself was halted in 1965, with the last execution occurring in 1964. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story begins on ITV1 and ITVX on at 9pm Wednesday, March 5.
Yahoo
03-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Nigel Havers' 'haunting' real-life link to A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story
ITV's new true crime drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story is set to be a harrowing watch for many viewers, but it had particular significance for one of its stars. Nigel Havers appears in the courtroom scenes as the judge who had to sentence Ellis to death after a jury returned a guilt verdict, but he has a real-life link to the case as he plays his own grandfather, Justice Cecil Havers, who presided over the trial. The four-part series follows the story of how Ruth Ellis moved from a successful career as London's youngest nightclub manager to becoming the last woman hanged in the UK aged just 28, after shooting her lover David Blakely dead in 1955. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story tells the heartbreaking true tale of the last woman hanged in Britain. Based on true events, this gripping four-part drama series, starring Lucy Boynton and Toby Jones, is coming soon to ITV and ITVX. — ITV (@ITV) February 17, 2025 Ellis had been subjected to horrific violent and psychological abuse by wealthy racing driver Blakely, who had caused her to have a miscarriage after one severe beating weeks before his death. She tracked Blakely down to a pub in Hampstead and shot at him five times in the street, killing him. Despite her suffering in the relationship, Ellis refused to paint herself as a victim during the trial which was plagued by misogyny and classism, and saw the jury find her guilty after just 14 minutes of deliberation and one day in court. It led to huge changes in the UK justice system with the end of capital punishment and diminished responsibility becoming a defence. Speaking to BBC Breakfast about his family link to the drama, Havers said of his grandfather: "I adored him, he was the most charming man and very liberal and easy-going, and not scary in any sense. But looking at him as a judge, he looks quite scary." Host Naga Munchetty asked the actor whether he had ever spoken to his grandfather about the landmark case and he replied: "I did, and he told me and everyone that he tried to make Ruth Ellis say to the jury, 'the man was so cruel to me that in self defence I shot him'. But she kept saying, 'no no, I knew what I was doing' and my grandfather would say, 'let's start again. He bullied you, he harassed you, so obviously you had to in self defence.' 'No, no, I wanted to shoot him.' "Whatever he said, she wouldn't go down that road. So his hands were tied, because whatever happened, if you murdered someone in those days, you were hanged." Talking about how the sentence could weigh on a judge's conscience, he added: "This is one of the many reasons we don't still do this, because the atmosphere in the court is so extraordinary, because if you're found guilty, that is the end of you. Thank heavens we don't do that now. But when we filmed that scene in court, the atmosphere was extraordinary." He said of the emotional experience of filming: "I burst into tears [after filming]. I felt very sorry for my grandfather because he was extremely upset. He wrote a letter to the home secretary at the time and said this woman must not be hanged and the home secretary ignored it." Despite handing Ellis her death sentence, Justice Havers had been keen to see her spared execution and had even campaigned on her behalf, as Havers revealed. Lucy Boynton, who stars as Ellis in the drama, told This Morning how poignant it had been to have Havers as part of the cast. She said: "It was haunting. I think people want to feel this is safely tucked away as a period piece and that we're very different now, but I think having someone on set whose close relative was there and was at the helm of it was very grounding and very haunting. "Apparently, his grandfather was advocating for Ruth and was writing to politicians to argue that she shouldn't be hanged, so there are some people on the right side of history." Ellis's grandson Stephen Beard has called for her to get a posthumous pardon for the murder conviction and Havers agreed in his BBC interview that he would back a campaign for her pardon. He said: "I love that. Of course I would (agree), that would be my choice, too. I would love that to happen." In 2010, the actor had spoken to the BBC about his grandfather having written to the home secretary recommending a reprieve for Ellis, but had been refused. He also told how Justice Havers went on to send money every year for the upkeep of Ellis's son. Justice Havers, who had been appointed a High Court judge in 1951, retired as a judge in 1967 and died in 1977. Havers might seem like the obvious actor for the role of his grandfather, but as he wasn't involved in developing the drama to begin with, show bosses had to ask whether he would want to take part. Luckily, they found that he jumped at the chance, as executive producer Kate Bartlett explained. According to OK!, she said that she was surprised to find he was keen to take on the role: "We had lots of conversations going, 'Oh, do you think he might? ' And he leapt at it. We couldn't quite believe it. So it was just amazing that he was playing his grandfather, it was extraordinary." Director Lee Haven Jones added: "He was full of little observations about what his grandfather would do. Apparently his grandfather used to write all the time, he'd constantly be taking notes, and he liked to bet on the horses as well. So there were all of these little details and while we didn't include all of them, it was nice to know that the role was imbued with a sense of authenticity." A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story begins on ITV1 at 9pm on Wednesday.
Telegraph
20-02-2025
- Telegraph
‘Being Ruth Ellis's granddaughter had no impact on who I am today… or so I thought'
As the granddaughter of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to hang in Britain, life was never going to be straightforward. What happened on Easter Sunday in 1955, when Ruth, a former nightclub manager, tracked down her unfaithful and abusive lover, the motor-racing driver David Blakely, to a pub in Hampstead where she shot and killed him, has defined our family. Ruth was found guilty of premeditated murder by a jury in just 20 minutes, and was sentenced to death and hanged at Holloway Prison 13 weeks after the crime. It set in play a cruel chain of events. My grandfather, Ruth's first husband, George Ellis, a dentist with an alcohol problem, hanged himself three years after Ruth's execution. In 1969, Ruth's mother, Bertha Neilson, was found unconscious in a gas-filled room; she never fully recovered. My mother, Georgina Ellis, Ruth's daughter, was three years old and living with an adoptive family when her mother was hanged. She led a chaotic life thanks to her childhood; she could not be the mother that my siblings and I needed, drank heavily later in life and died of cancer aged 50. Her older brother Andy, my uncle, who was 10 when Ruth was hanged, died by suicide, aged 37. I was convinced that I had been unaffected by the Ruth Ellis association. I managed to excel at school, graduate from university, complete a master's in my 40s and have a successful career in marketing. Being Ruth's granddaughter had no impact on the person I am today or on my mental health. Or so I thought until it caught up with me. Moving my family to Toronto, Canada, shortly before the Covid-19 lockdown gave me the opportunity to reflect. I realised I was ready to delve into my past; after 40 years, I had grown tired of hiding from it. Through the help of podcasts and books, I realised how my childhood had defined who I am. It was time for me to confront it with the help of self-discovery and professional therapy. This has happened to me at a serendipitous time, for Ruth's story is to resurface with a new ITV drama, A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story, with Lucy Boynton as Ruth, based on Carol Ann Lee's meticulously researched book, A Fine Day for a Hanging. There have been about 20 books published about my grandmother, many with their own agendas. This narrative is different, portraying Ruth as a trailblazer in life and death. She was a single parent with two children, running a thriving business, becoming London's youngest nightclub manager. She was a modern woman living in a time when convictions were punished with medieval practices. The war triggered a shift in society; the British judicial system was slow to keep up. It wasn't ready for Ruth Ellis. For the first time in 70 years, Ruth has been portrayed on screen as the woman she was, and I have become proud of my grandmother. The first time I became aware of my connection to Ruth Ellis, I was seven. I don't have many childhood memories – I have learnt that this is not unusual when you have experienced childhood trauma. I do remember that my mother made me watch Dance With a Stranger – Mike Newell's 1985 film, starring Miranda Richardson as Ruth – with my brother James, who was five, and sister Emma, six. It was inappropriate for children our age by any measure, but my mother was giddy with excitement as she invited us to the 'best' room in our family home in Manchester to watch it on the VHS player. I remember not understanding what I was seeing – lots of sex, violence and the murder – but I do recall that being the moment I decided I wanted nothing more to do with Ruth's story. This was easier said than done. At that time, my mother, known as Georgie, a model and socialite, lived and breathed the connection; it defined her. She was regularly in the press. Thanks to her looks, intelligence and relationships with high-profile celebrities, including the footballer George Best and the actor Richard Harris, this appeared relatively easy. The way she conducted herself was the root cause of our fraught relationship. Her PR strategy was clear: to draw as many parallels as possible between her life and Ruth's. Up until 1975, Mum had managed to keep her identity out of the newspapers. In March of that year, aged 23, she appeared on the front of the News of the World, styled to look like Ruth. This coverage was her first taste of the publicity she could get from adopting a 'like mother, like daughter' persona. As Georgina's eldest daughter, I was determined not to go down the same route. Someone said to me, 'Don't let it define you' – a complex concept for a child. I thought the best way was to pretend it never happened. Primary school was tricky. My parents divorced when I was eight, and eventually my father, Eric Enston, was granted full custody of me and my two siblings. As we had been one family unit during my early years, everyone at school knew the connection. I was reminded in the playground that my grandmother was a 'murderer' and a 'prostitute'. Upon reflection, my grievance wasn't necessarily with the Ruth association, but I knew Ruth and my mother went hand in hand. If I was open about my connection to Ruth, this linked me to my mother, and I didn't want to be associated with her behaviour. I was petrified of being tarred with the same brush. As I've learnt more about Ruth's character, I think back to the times when I saw similar traits in my mother. Like Ruth, Mum had a blind infatuation: with the property developer David Beard, her partner following her break-up with my father. Her David had the same initials as David Blakely, the man Ruth shot. My mother's relationship with David, whom she never married, was passionate but volatile and led to some questionable parenting decisions. Like Ruth, her attachment to my stepfather overrode other emotional connections. This capriciousness was one of the reasons she didn't have custody of her six children (my father was her third husband). My older half-brother, Scott, had been sent away to live with relatives. The outcome of my parents' custody battle for Emma, James and I was decided following one of these parenting moments. One night – when I was eight, James six, and Emma seven – my mother got us out of bed and drove us into Manchester city centre. She was looking for David, who wasn't returning her calls. Mum drove us to Bavardarge, a popular Manchester nightclub, and parked nearby. She left me and my siblings in the car and disappeared to find him. While waiting anxiously for my mother to return, Emma announced she was desperate for the toilet. I looked down the street and saw some construction workers and what looked like a site office with a light on. I got James and Emma out of the car, walked towards the office and asked if my sister could use their loo. The next thing I remember is being sat back in Mum's car, talking to police officers and describing what my mother looked like and was wearing. The police officers went into the club but couldn't find her. My next memory is of waking up in the staff room of a police station, my head resting on the lap of a female police officer. When I looked across the room, I could see my little brother sitting on a pool table and a police officer showing him how to use a cue. My final memory of that night is waking up in the back of my father Eric's car. Soon after that incident, my father was awarded custody, and my mother was granted weekend access, alternating between long and short weekend visits. This started as a consistent arrangement, but the long weekends quickly became fewer and farther between, based on my mother's social commitments. Being let down by my mother became my norm. As a teenager, my attitude towards her came from a place of increasing frustration. I was annoyed about the opportunities she had and the path she chose to follow. We lived in Didsbury in South Manchester, home to television presenters, producers and sports personalities. She knew everyone, and everyone knew her. Parents of children at my school included Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, and Tony Wilson of Factory Records. I remember having lunches with Manchester City footballers. My mother was beautiful, witty, sharp, well spoken and charismatic. She also had financial backing; my grandparents, her adopted parents, had set her up with a shop in Manchester called Georgie Girl. In my mind, she had it all. Despite her positive attributes, my mother homed in on the sordid side of Ruth's life, using it to justify her behaviour – 'mirror image' was another phrase both she and the press would use. In 1997, The Independent interviewed my mother. The journalist wrote, 'It is sometimes hard to know where Ruth ends and Georgie begins,' an accurate observation. Ruth had been running a business as a single parent when she met David Blakely. Yet rather than focus on Ruth's achievements, Mum opted to revel in the fact that Ruth had occasionally turned to prostitution. I now know this played a much smaller role in Ruth's life compared with the image my mother had painted. One weekend, I visited my mother, who was living with my stepfather David and their two young children. I was 13. It was a Saturday, and that evening, when my dad called to pick us up, my brother and I decided to stay at Mum's. I don't remember the lead-up, but David and Mum had an explosive argument. It escalated into a violent exchange initiated by my mother, with me trying to break up the fight while my distressed siblings watched on. Scared, I ran to the neighbours' and banged on the door, but when it opened, I couldn't get my words out; the panic and fear had rendered me speechless. The neighbour offered me a brandy, asking if I was the au pair. The next thing I remember is the police arriving. I consciously decided not to tell my father; I was worried he would put a stop to my mother's weekend access. What I really craved was one-on-one time with my mother. My stepfather also had weekend access to his three children from his previous marriage, so when both sets of kids came together, the weekends were chaotic. When their relationship ended in 1994, when I was 14, she suggested we go on a girls' trip to London. We would go shopping, meet her 'friend George' for lunch and have fun. I hadn't been to London before, so I was excited to see the city and spend quality time with her. We arrived at the pub to meet George, who turned out to be the footballer George Best. As we arrived, he was sitting alone at the bar, enjoying a pint. Mum made a beeline for him, and I realised this wasn't an organised arrangement. Mum was just familiar with George's drinking haunts and knew where to find him. Feeling awkward, I took my drink and sat at a table nearby. As expected, the 'lunch with George' never happened. That evening, we went to the Hard Rock Cafe, and afterwards she suggested we go for a drink on our way back to the hotel. From the street, we descended some steps and entered what I now realise was a gentlemen's club, full of well-dressed older men and few women. I followed Mum around as she worked the room, introducing us both to people. I remember feeling incredibly uncomfortable, so I sat at the bar and watched her float around. When it was time to leave, one of my mother's new acquaintances joined us in the taxi. They dropped me at the hotel and travelled off into the night. She arrived at the hotel the following morning and took me to the Savoy for breakfast, before we caught our train back to Manchester. It hadn't been the girls' weekend I'd had in mind. I now wonder if Mum had enough money to make that trip. Did she need to go off with her new acquaintance to earn cash to fund our weekend? Still, my mother did herself no favours – her appearance on Michael Barrymore's primetime television show in 1995 being an excellent example. From the moment she stepped on set, I could see she was drunk. As I watched the interview unfold from home, I felt as though I was having an out-of-body experience. What was she doing? The thought of returning to school the following Monday was overwhelming. I was mortified when I recently discovered the interview on YouTube. I recall thinking it couldn't be as bad as I remembered. I quickly re-confirmed that it was indeed one of TV's most awkward interviews. My first instinct was to request the content be removed. However, upon reflection, I realised that it served as proof of my mother's mental state and provided validation of the struggles we endured during our childhood. It was part of my context. A pivotal moment in our relationship was another interview she did with Best magazine in May 1995, the month I was doing my GCSE exams. I wasn't aware of the article until the morning of an exam, when one of my peers brought a copy into school. It was the first time Mum had mentioned my name in the press: 'My eldest daughter, Laura, who is 16, is very bright and will go a long way. Her only stumbling block is the family legacy. She tells me, 'People at school think I must be an easy lay because of my mum and grandmother.'' Mum had crossed the line; I felt incredibly let down. After my exam, I called her on the school canteen payphone and didn't hold back. It was a while before we spoke again. Bullying and name calling were the norm throughout my school years. At 13, it ramped up when two close friends started making my family an issue. Their strategy was subtle. One of them would sit next to me in class, draw out the hangman word game and push the paper toward me. They would invite me to sleepovers, but I would be too scared to sleep, fearing what they might do. They would write letters and notes stating I was pretty in my 'own way'. I finished secondary school with little self-worth or confidence. Marriage number four resulted in my mother moving to Hull, a three-hour drive from Manchester. She telephoned after the event to tell me that she had married Michael Blackburn, a retired cricketer and rugby player. I remember the relief of knowing she was taking her chaos to the other side of the country. Thanks to that distance, our relationship improved, and I would visit her regularly. I had learnt from experience to take everything she said with a pinch of salt, and I treated her cancer diagnosis in the same way. It was only when she started to do short stays at a hospice that I realised things were serious. She died on the day I was due to move house. After a call from the hospice, I left my father, Eric, to move me in by himself and bolted to Hull, missing her by hours. I always knew Mum would never live a long life. In her later years, she drank heavily, which helped to mask the cancer until the point where treatment was futile. There's no question in my mind that her early death, in 2001, was a direct result of Ruth's execution. There is plenty of neuroscientific research to show how untreated trauma leads to unhealthy behaviours, which result in chronic illnesses. Lately, my attitude towards my mother has shifted to a more compassionate place. The government allowed Ruth to hang for her crime, and my mother never received any mental health support. I am guilty of underestimating the devastating impact this had on her. As a teenager, I thought she had choices; I now see how hardwired she was into the tragedy. When Judge Cecil Havers (played by his grandson Nigel in A Cruel Love) announced Ruth's punishment, he didn't just hand out one death sentence; he handed out three. He started the clock on Ruth's life and those of her children. Undoubtedly A Cruel Love will reopen the conversation around the stability of Ruth's conviction. In 2003, an appeal to get it overturned, led by Ruth's sister Muriel Jakubait, was lost. I was not surprised by the result. Despite Ruth's trial being a complete shambles, the judicial system looked very different in 1955; battered woman syndrome and diminished responsibility were not recognised defences. Carol Ann Lee's book and the spotlight ITV is shining on the case will have a far more wide-reaching impact than a court ruling. Like me, the British public will be re-educated about the events leading up to the shooting, the disgraceful handling of the case, and who the true villains really were. Of course, Ruth's death has always influenced my decisions. My childhood taught me everything I didn't want to be as a parent. I don't profess to be the best mother, but I work hard to offer mytwo girls the things that I missed. As a parent, I make a conscious effort to be present; I'm not sure how much the kids will remember, but I hope they will have recollections of me being there at the school gates and at bedtime. I strive for consistency; I don't go back on promises. I am determined to raise two confident young women with firm personal boundaries. In 2001, when I received the call to say my mother had died, I'm ashamed to say that I was relieved. I don't want anyone to feel relief when my time comes to check out of this world. For the first time in my life, aged 46, I am at peace with my bloodline; I no longer carry the shame for what my grandmother did or the path my mother 'chose' to take. Ruth lost her life in 1955 due to misogyny, discrimination and judgment, and this reality has shaped who I am. Ruth's legacy of strength will continue to live on through me and my daughters, which is the least we can do for my grandmother, whose death saved the lives of others by triggering the abolishment of the death penalty in Britain. A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story starts on ITV1 on March 5, and is available as a box set on ITVX the same day
