Picture: Wikipedia

Ruth Ellis – the last woman to be hanged in Britain – should be pardoned, said her grandson.

Stephen Beard, said Ms Ellis was the victim of a “severe miscarriage of justice”.

The 28-year-old night club hostess shot dead her lover outside a public house in 1955.

An Old Bailey jury took just 14 minutes to reach its guilty verdict that she murdered David Blakely, a 25-year-old racing driver.

A month after the conviction Ms Ellis was hanged in Holloway prison, London.

Mr Beard, 36, said: “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.

“That wasn’t the only option open to him.”

A new ITV television drama – “A Cruel Love” – is looking at the circumstances around the murder, court case, and her execution.

Mr Beard told The Times the series will show “there was such a miscarriage of justice”.

He added: “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.”

Past re-examinations of the case have suggested Ms Ellis may have suffered abuse at the hands of Blakely.

Mr Beard claimed his grandmother was driven to shoot Blakely because he had physically and mentally abused her.

She claimed she had a miscarriage after he punched her in the stomach.

Also, her lifestyle and work as a night club hostess unfairly affected her case.

She and Blakely met in a London club.

Mr Beard added: “With her shocking blonde hair she was the antithesis of what was deemed a proper woman at the time.

“People thought she should stay at home, look after the kids and cook and clean.

“But that wasn’t her, she was a character.”