Janice Nix has been charged with manslaughter following the death of Andrea Bernard
A 66-year-old woman has been charged with the death of a five-year-old girl in 1978.
Janice Nix has been charged with manslaughter following the death of Andrea Bernard.
The young girl, who was known to Nix, was taken to a specialist burns unit after she was allegedly assaulted at an address in Ashley Road, Thornton Heath on June 6, 1978.
She died more than a month later on July 13 due to the severity of her injuries.
Nix has also been charged with child cruelty towards another child, who was eight-years-old at the time.
The offences were reported in September 2022 and an investigation was launched.
The Metropolitan Police said: ‘Detectives from the Met’s Cold Case Homicide Team have charged a woman following the death of a five-year-old girl in 1978.
‘Janice Nix, 66, of Rodenhurst Road, SW4, was arrested and charged with manslaughter on Tuesday, 18 February, following the death of Andrea Bernard.
‘Andrea and Nix were known to each other. Nix was also charged with child cruelty in relation to offences towards another child, who was aged eight at the time.
‘She is due to appear before Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, 19 February.
‘It is reported Andrea was assaulted at an address in Ashley Road, Thornton Heath on 6 June 1978 and was hospitalised.
‘She was initially treated at hospital in Croydon before being transferred to a specialist burns unit in East Grinstead.
‘Tragically, as a result of the injuries Andrea sustained, she died on 13 July 1978.
‘The offences were reported in September 2022 and an investigation was launched.’
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Toni Cole was jailed over her relationship with an inmate (Picture: PA/Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)
A female prison officer who sent more than 4,000 racy messages during a sexual relationship with a prisoner has been jailed for 12 months.
Toni Cole, 29, was discovered to have shared a series of intimate affairs with a con while working at the new ‘super-prison’ HMP Five Wells in Northamptonshire.
A court heard she sent 4,369 messages to the prisoner and took part in 18 video calls while engaging in ‘contact which was sexualised or flirtatious’.
She also kissed him and sat on his lap and even told him she would give unauthorised advanced warning of any cell searches at the Category C prison.
The relationship took place between December 9, 2022, and January 25, 2023 before it was rumbled by prison bosses.
Cole, of Wellingborough, Northants., pleaded guilty to misconduct in public office and was jailed for a year at Northampton Crown Court.
Cole is the second female officer convicted of misconduct in public office at the Wellingborough jail.
Cole sent thousands of intimate messages to her incarcerated lover (Picture: Northamptonshire Police / SWNS)
Last summer, trainee officer Rachel Stanton, 31, was given a suspended jail term after a steamy affair with a prisoner.
The mum-of-five’s relationship with armed robber Edwin Poole was uncovered when prison staff found three intimate photographs and a sexy love letter in his cell.
CCTV also caught the pair going into a prison storeroom for an hour of ‘intimacy’.
And in December 2024 it was reported that a third female prison officer, who has not been named, had been arrested and suspended for similar behaviour.
The £253m prison, which is operated by G4S, has been under scrutiny after inspectors raised serious concerns about staff safety, drugs and food shortages.
A boy died after he was hit by a train travelling at 50mph at the Bourneview level crossing in Croydon (Picture: Google)
An investigation has been opened after a boy died at a railway footpath crossing in south London.
The schoolboy was crossing the railway line at the Bourneview footpath crossing in Croydon when he was struck by a train on January 23 this year.
He suffered fatal injuries in the crash with the train travelling at about 50mph at the crossing between Whyteleafe and Kenley.
The boy was named locally as Jaiden Shehata, a Year 7 student at Riddlesdown Collegiate.
Bourneview footpath level crossing connects two leafy neighbourhoods in Croydon (Picture: Google)
He was described as a ‘kind and popular student’ whose loss ‘is being felt by many.’
Now the watchdog, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB), has opened an investigation into the collision which happened shortly after 8am on a Thursday morning.
The footpath crossing is used by pedestrians from two residential areas of Kenley.
‘The crossing has gates on either side of the railway and is provided with signage which instructs users how to cross,’ the RAIB said.
The probe will look into the ‘sequence of events’ leading to the accident, including ‘factors which may have affected the decisions and actions of the child as they used the crossing.’
The watchdog will also investigate any previous incidents and how risks were managed at the Bourneview crossing.
A Network Rail spokesperson told Metro: ‘Our thoughts are with the family and friends affected by the tragic incident at Bourneview footpath crossing.
‘We are working closely with RAIB as part of its ongoing investigation into this matter.’
Julia Wandelt claims she bears an uncanny resemblance with missing British toddler Madeleine McCann (Picture: AP)
Julia Wandelt once had a million Instagram followers. They were obsessed with her selfies, particularly those highlighting a speck in her eye and a freckle on her leg which she claimed were ‘proof’ she is in fact Madeleine McCann.
The claims horrified people across the world, including her own parents, and earned her the nickname ‘Maddie faker’.
Julia, who also goes by the surnames Faustyna and Wendell, underwent a DNA test with the help of celebrity psychic Dr Fia Johansson last year, only for it to conclude she was ‘100% Polish’.
Dr Fia Johansson (left) with Julia Wandelt (Picture: Instagram/@persianmedium)
Madeleine McCann vanished from an apartment during her family’s vacation in Portugal (Picture: AP)
Nevertheless, she still turned up at a memorial service for Madeleine in Leicestershire hoping to ask the McCanns to take a test that she could compare to her own.
The fantasist now claims a separate test comparing her DNA to a sample recovered from the crime scene following Maddie’s disappearance supports the assertion Gerry McCann could be her biological father.
Here, Metro examines who Julia Wandelt is and what she has claimed.
Who is Julia Wandelt?
Julia Wandelt is an aspiring musician and model from the town of Wroclaw, nearly 200 miles from the Polish capital Warsaw.
She is believed to be 23 years old – so older than Madeleine would be – but she claims she is unsure of her age and has never seen her birth certificate.
‘I don’t remember most of my childhood, but my earliest memory is very strong and it’s about holidays in a hot place where there is a beach and white or very light coloured buildings with apartments,’ she has said.
‘I don’t see my family in this memory.’
Her Polish parents have denied the claims.
What are Julia’s claims?
Julia claims she first suspected she is Madeleine in June 2022. She was an internet sensation by the following February.
While waiting for the results of Dr Johansson’s DNA test, Julia appeared on US TV in a Dr Phil interview, where she continued to claim without merit that she was Madeleine.
Questioned about the apparent absence of a rare eye defect clearly visible in photos of the toddler that have been released in the years since she vanished, Julia said hers had ‘faded’.
Instead of producing any proof to back up her claims, she relied on an insistence that her laugh was like the missing girl’s and said she had a similar dimple to Madeleine.
She has now resurfaced on Instagram under the handle @amijuliawandelt.
Gerry, left, and Kate McCann, parents of four-year old Madeleine McCann, missing from the Portuguese town of Praia Da Luz since May 2007 (Picture: AP)
Her stories are full of reposts purporting to show similarities between her appearance and Madeleine’s.
It also contains posts urging followers to contact Operation Grange, Scotland Yard’s investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, ‘and ask them to do a DNA test and compare Julia Wandelt’s DNA test to the McCann’s’.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who oversees the British investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, said: ‘We continue to support Madeleine’s family to understand what happened on the evening of May 3, 2007, in Praia da Luz.
‘Our thoughts remain with the family.’
Another post wrongly names Edward Argar as the McCann’s MP and includes his contact details for the same purpose.
What has Julia’s family said about her claims?
In a statement, Julia’s parents have said: ‘For us as a family it is obvious that Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. We have memories, we have pictures.
‘Julia also has these photos, because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges.
‘We always tried to understand all situations that happened with Julia.
‘Threats to our address from Julia, her lies and manipulations, activity on the internet… we’ve seen it all and we’ve tried to prevent it, explain it, we’ve asked her to stop.’
They added: ‘We always tried to help her get back on her feet. Julia has been of age for several years. She moved out of the house.
‘She refuses treatment, does not take medication regularly. She also did not take advantage of the possibility of treatment at a very good centre in Poland, which agreed to accept her.’
The distraught parents said they had offered to support their daughter by helping her access therapists and medication, saying: ‘Julia once wanted to be a singer, a model. She always wanted to be popular.
‘What’s happening now is she [has] one million followers. The internet won’t forget, and it’s obvious that Julia isn’t Maddie. We are devastated at this current situation.’
Lisa Smith was shot in a pub car park on Valentine’s Day (Picture: SWNS/Facebook)
The man suspected of shooting a woman dead outside a pub on Valentine’s Day reportedly phoned a friend and told her what he had done.
Edvard Stockings, also known by the surname Smith, is thought to have fatally shot Lisa Smith outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt near Sevenoaks in Kent last Friday.
Shortly afterwards he is believed to have driven to the Queen Elizabeth II bridge at the Dartford Crossing and jumped into the River Thames.
He’s still not been found after three days of searching.
Leslie Thompson, a friend, received a phone call from Stockings less than two hours after the shooting, the BBC reports.
Lisa, a 43-year-old mum of two who also used the surname Stockings, was shot dead in the pub car park at around 7pm on Friday, and Stockings phoned his friend at around 8.50pm.
Floral tributes have been left at the scene (Picture: Adam Pogrund)
He reportedly said ‘she’s dead, I love you, I’ll see you on the other side’ during the call – and Leslie believes Stockings shot his wife Lisa following abreakdown.
Stockings also said ‘I can’t live, we’ve all gone together’ during the call, and that ‘armed police will probably shoot me’.
Speaking to the BBC, Leslie said he had known the couple for more than 30 years, adding: ‘They were both the life and soul of the party. We really don’t know why he has done it. I’m baffled.
‘He’s had a breakdown. I’m one million percent sure he is in the river.’
Police received reports of a man ‘on the wrong side of the barrier’ of the Dartford Crossing on Friday evening.
They found a vehicle containing a gun on the bridge.
Protesters gather outside the Rolls Building as the court decides to approve a £3billion loan (Picture: Shutterstock)
Thames Water has been given a £3billion loan just weeks before it was due to run out of money.
The ruling at the High Court gives the water company, which has come under intense scrutiny in recent months, some time to sort out its finances.
It is currently £16billion in debt and needs £3.3billion over the next five years just to keep it staying afloat for its 16 million customers.
But it has not stopped critics calling for the nationalisation of Thames Water, who says Londoners are paying up to £250 more a year.
Thames Water is essentially borrowing its way out of its own financial problems, something Matthew Topham, Lead Campaigner at We Own It, says will only help in the short-term.
He told Metro: ‘This judgement is nothing but a stay of execution for Thames Water. The privatised company will limp on for a few more months like a profit-thirsty zombie.
‘This crisis loan will keep Thames afloat in the short-term, but their underlying business model is rotten and should be condemned. It relies on piling up debt and raising customer bills so they can pay huge bonuses and dividends – all whilst pumping raw sewage into our waterways.
‘The Environment Secretary, Steve Reed, has the power to put Thames into a Special Administration Regime (SAR) – effectively a form of temporary nationalisation.
We own It is calling for the nationalisation of Thames Water (Picture: Shutterstock)
‘Under the SAR it’s possible to negotiate a significant reduction in the corporate debt, putting the company on a much better financial footing.
“Once the debt has been slashed, the only long-term solution is full public ownership.’
Thames Water said it would completely run out of money by March 24 if it had not been given the loan.
Mr Justice Leech heard the case in the High Court this morning and said: ‘After taking into account the public interest in ensuring the uninterrupted provision of vital public services, I nevertheless exercise my discretion to sanction the plan.’
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Tom Smith KC, for Thames Water Utilities Holdings Limited (TWUH), told the court that letting it run out of money by not approving the company plan was ‘a risk which cannot be run’.
The campaigners are calling for the water company to be put into public ownership (Picture: Shutterstock)
Campaigner holds placard in protest over the loan (Picture: Shutterstock)
A group of Thames Water’s Group B creditors and Liberal Democrat MP Charlie Maynard, who opposed the bailout, can appeal against the approval, the High Court also ruled.
The Group B creditors had proposed the same funding but on better terms and recommended these should be adopted.
The company plan was instead approved by creditors holding more than 75% of its Class A debt.
Thames Water chief executive Chris Weston said: ‘We are pleased the court sanctioned the company plan.
‘This is good news for our customers, puts our business on a firmer financial footing, and enables us to continue to invest in our network and deliver critical infrastructure upgrades for our customers and the environment.
‘Importantly, this decision will support the delivery of our turnaround which is underway.’
Timeline of Thames Water financial woes
July 10, 2023 – Shareholders agree to provide £750 million in funding
September 2023 – Thames Water is ordered by Ofwat to refund customers £101 million for poor performance
October 2023 – Thames Water is named as one of the worst performing water companies
January 2024 – Chris Weston took up post as chief executive and was paid an annual salary of £850,000, on top of a 156% bonus so he got £2.25 million
March 2024 – Investors announced they would withhold the first payment of a £4bn turnaround plan unless Ofwat agreed to an increase in customer bills, saying that without it the plan is ‘uninvestible’
April 2024 – Whitehall consideration of plans to renationalise Thames Water, with the state taking on most of its £15.6bn debt and lenders losing up to 40% of their money
July 11, 2024 – Ofwat put Thames Water into special measures, with a ‘turnaround oversight regime’ subject to ‘heightened regulatory’ scrutiny
August 2024 – Thames Water warned its continued survival required it to increase water bills by 59% over a five-year period, rejecting the £19/year cap proposed by Ofwat
October 2024 – Thames Water proposed a deal to raise a loan of up to £3bn that would enable it to survive until October 2025, while increasing the company’s debt to £17.9bn by March 2025
December 2024 – Thames Water fined £18.2m by Ofwat after breaching dividend rules on payments made in 2023 and 2024
February 18, 2025 – High Court approval for an emergency debt package worth up to £3bn for Thames Water
The loan will cost at least £100million in fees and comes with a 9.75% interest rate.
The water company is seeking to charge people more money to help with its future investment and existence.
This news comes after people across the UK are set to be hit with a 26% rise in their annual average water bill.
This means the average water bill will rise from £480 to £603 – an increase of £123 from April 1 this year.
‘Sorry, some account information may not be displaying online at the moment’ (Picture: Getty)
Customers of Nationwide had problems accessing their accounts, with some saying they had to leave shops as they couldn’t pay.
The popular building society confirmed on X: ‘Sorry, some account information may not be displaying online at the moment.
‘We’re working to get things back to normal as quickly as we can.’
The bank later updated to say that the problem had been resolved, though not before having to respond to dozens of unhappy users.
One customer wrote to them: ‘@AskNationwide it’s really embarrassing when you’re about to pay for your shopping and you have to leave because I can’t transfer the money from my savings to my current account. Both of which are with Nationwide! I would like to complain actually.’
Another asked: ‘Has your mobile/Online banking gone down? My accounts aren’t loading.’
Meanwhile, one more user told them: ‘I am unable to use card or Apple Pay so unfortunately no card services are not working.’
The problem has now been resolved (Picture: Getty)
Reports of issues began around 1.30pm, and the bank said publicly that everything had been resolved around an hour later.
Nationwide said in a statement: ‘Due to a technical issue, some customers were unable to view all their account information earlier today.
‘This was resolved within half an hour and everything is now working as normal. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.’
Nationwide is not the only high street bank to have problems recently.
Barclays was hit by an IT issue lasting a whole weekend in January, with one customer telling Metro he feared to fill his car up with petrol in case he could not access more money.
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PC Leanne Counter and her mum were picked up from a service station (Picture: KTD Media)
A police officer has been fired for beating up her mum in the back of a stranger’s car after getting drunk on Fireball cocktails.
PC Leanne Counter repeatedly punched her mother, Julie, after a passerby found the drunken officer and agreed to give them both a lift home.
The Cleveland police officer was so drunk on Fireball that she knew nothing of the attack until her father came to her home the following day, they heard.
The incident happened after a family Christmas erupted into chaos on Boxing Day 2023 after the Counter family had been to the pub and went back to PC Counter’s sister’s home on Teesside.
PC Counter’s behaviour became so rowdy that her sister threw her out and her mother agreed to make sure she got home safely.
The pair got into a taxi which was bound for PC Counter’s home, but her behaviour towards her mother was so alarming that the cabbie drove away after they pulled into Wolviston service station, County Durham.
Leanne said she had no recollection of the event (Picture: KTD Media)
Cleveland Police’s Mark Ley-Morgan recalled PC Counter yelled: ‘Some Mam you are, f*** off, you never have anything good to say about me.’
The taxi driver threatened to call the police, at which point Mrs Counter told him: ‘She’s in the police.’
PC Counter screamed: ‘You have ruined my cover’ and later called her mother a ‘c***’.
It was while mother and daughter were abandoned at the service station that they encountered Lewis Failes and his brother-in-law, Mark.
In a statement to the police disciplinary panel, Mr Failes said: ‘I was approached at the service station by a lady in her mid to late fifties. A younger female was shouting at her and the older woman was trying to calm her down.
‘Both had been drinking but the younger woman was a lot more drunk. I recall the older woman telling her she would get into trouble if she did not calm down. She asked me to give her a lift because her daughter had joined the police and she wanted to get her away before she got into trouble.’
She’s since been sacked from her job (Picture: KTD Media)
Mr Failes agreed and set off along the A19 towards Middlesbrough with his brother-in-law in the passenger seat.
As they drove along he could hear PC Counter being abusive to her mum and felt the car ‘bouncing’.
He added: ‘She had moved across the back seat to get to her mother. Mark got up and climbed into the back seat. I was close to pulling over and putting them out, I had only had the car a couple of days and I did not want it getting damaged.’
Julie Counter was left with a cut under her nostril, a swollen left cheekbone and bruising to her forearm, which she had raised to defend herself.
She told police investigators: ‘I have been crying because it was my daughter who attacked me. I cannot even look at Leanne.’
PC Counter was arrested on suspicion of assault causing actual bodily harm and answered ‘no comment’ to all questions. No criminal charges have arisen from the incident.
The day after the attack, PC Counter texted a police colleague to say: ‘I am not in the good books with my family,’ blaming the Fireball drinks she had consumed for the fact she could not even remember the assault.
While under investigation she was asked whether it was an isolated incident and PC Counter confessed that on a previous occasion, she had put her father’s girlfriend in a headlock during ‘an altercation.’
Mr Ley-Morgan said the attack breached the standards expected of police officers and was discreditable conduct which amounted to gross misconduct and should lead to the immediate dismissal of PC Counter.
He said: ‘Mr Failes, his passenger and the taxi driver were all aware that she was a police officer. A reasonable member of the public would be concerned that an officer was unable to control their drinking and then resorts to violence when drunk.’
Paul Crowley representing PC Counter, who attended the hearing, said: ‘She has been consistent in her account that she does not recall the incident. She was upset and unreservedly apologetic when she was spoken to by her father about it.
‘She is devastated and does not recognise the behaviours that have been alleged against her and has never shied away from the fact that the consumption of alcohol was a factor. It is completely out of character for her, she has an unblemished criminal conduct record.’
Ruth Ellis was a British model and nightclub hostess executed on 13 July, 1955 (Picture: Getty Images)
It’s been almost 70 years since Ruth Ellis was sentenced to death for murdering her lover but her grandson is hoping a new ITV drama will provoke outcry at her case.
Referred to as a ‘brave woman’ by her own executioner Albert Pierrepoint, the 28-year-old’s final moments were shrouded in controversy after shooting David Blakely.
Ellis was found guilty of fatally shooting her lover, the court’s ruling for Ellis to be given the death penalty provoked huge public outcry – even paving its repeal, which saw the punishment outlawed in 1965.
ITV’s A Cruel Love- The Ruth Ellis Story starring Lucy Boynton is the latest offering to tell her story which will air in March.
Her grandson Stephen Beard believes it will have the same impact as Mr Bates vs the Post Office.
He 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.
‘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.’
Ruth Ellis next to David Blakeley, for whose murder she was hanged in 1955 (Picture: Mirrorpix via Getty Images)
He added that a woman killed her neighbour with a spade around a similar time and was not sentenced to death and believes the physical and mental abuse she suffered at Blakely’s hands drew her to shoot him.
‘People are so fascinated with the story because it is totally Shakespearean; it’s about murder, class, love and betrayal,’ explains Dominic Utton, the author of crime book ‘Faces of Evil’.
He told Metro: ‘Ruth was also a pretty incredible woman when you get to know the story. She had this terrible abusive upbringing and went on to have a really hard life. She kept getting knocked down, yet each time she pulled herself up and tried to get out, to try and make something of herself.’
David Blakely was an up and coming motor racing driver (Picture: Bettmann Archive)
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Born in Wales in 1926, Ruth faced a difficult childhood. Her father’s occupation as a cellist meant the family had to move regularly and often found it difficult to make ends meet. By 14, she had left school and worked multiple jobs – from machine minder to waitress – in a bid to help support her family.
And, behind closed doors, Ruth’s father was abusing both her and her sister Muriel, the latter who shockingly gave birth to her father’s baby.
By 17, Ruth was part of London’s seedy social scene and had become a nude model at the Camera Club and the Court Club situated in the heart of Soho. That same year she became a single parent to her son Andy, whose father was a married Canadian soldier. Ruth worked tirelessly to support herself and her son, but began to drink excessively and took on jobs as a sex worker.
One regular client at the Court Club caught her eye and, in 1950, she married George Johnston Ellis. They had a daughter, Georgina, but the marriage soon broke down as George had doubts if the little girl was truly his.
Desperate for money again, Ruth felt she had had no choice but to return to the squalid setting of London’s nightlife, where she put six-year-old Georgina up for adoption.
It was upon Ruth’s return to London where she met both David Blakely and Desmond Cullen, two men who would both change her life forever.
Ruth Ellis, with a friend, at The Little Club, Knightsbridge, a venue she once managed (Picture: Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Ruth Ellis’ story has been adapted countless times on screen and in theatre (Picture: Getty Images)
Driven by money and women, successful racing-car driver Blakely, 25, took an interest in Ruth and began to pursue her. Born into a wealthy family and accumulating £7,000 in inheritance – the equivalent of £3000,6000 today- his upbringing couldn’t have been any more different from Ruth’s.
After becoming a couple, infidelity and abuse blighted their relationship.
Ruth climbed the ranks of London’s clubland and worked as a club hostess in a myriad of clubs across Soho, while Blakely had multiple affairs with other women. He also became abusive. Fuelled by alcohol, he was extremely violent and would regularly punch and kick Ruth.
One beating after an evening of drinking, saw a pregnant Ruth receive a devastating blow to the stomach, causing her to miscarry.
Although her life was bleak, soon came one silver lining: Desmond Cussen, a 25-year-old RAF pilot and director of his family business.
He and Ruth had been having a secret affair, unbeknown to Blakely. Desmond offered safety and security alongside the violent turbulence of her relationship.
Police on duty controlling the crowd at Holloway Prison, London where Ruth Ellis was executed in 1955 (Picture: Popperfoto/Getty Images)
Huge crowds had gathered to protest the hanging (Picture: Evening Standard/Getty Images)
Ruth wanted revenge on Blakely. On April 10, 1955, she took a taxi from Desmond’s house to The Magdala, a pub in Hampstead Heath.
There, she took a gun out of her handbag – a weapon which is now displayed in the Metropolitan Police Crime Museum – and shot Blakely six times. Three were shot as she stood over him. Once she was done, she didn’t try to run or hide. Instead, she accepted her fate as she was arrested by an off-duty police officer who happened to be near the scene.
Over the next few months, Ruth, who was dubbed by the public as ‘typical west-end tart.’ She was subjected to a gendered legal system.
The court did not take into consideration the abuse carried out by Blakely or a defence of provocation. Instead, it took just fourteen minutes to decide her fate: death by hanging.
As news spread of Ruth’s sentence, thousands campaigned on her behalf, with the likes of Raymond Chandler, an America-British novelist, writing to The Evening Standard to express his support for Ellis.
Ruth herself never engaged in the campaign, however her sentencing would go on to pave the way for new legislation and have a significant impact on the way society not only perceived capital punishment but also domestic abuse.
‘Let her live and repent’
Public reaction to Ruth’s execution included a mix of outrage, shock and anger. Here are a handful of letters sent to the Daily Herald – a British daily newspaper, published in London from 1912 to 1964 –on July 6, 1955.
‘I consider Ruth Ellis a very wicked woman to kill the man she claimed to love. But I hope she will live, to repent and do some good for others in this world.’ Annie Wislow, Woodcote, Buckinghamshire.
‘Why all the fuss because a good-looking woman is to be hanged? She killed in cold blood and no sensible person would think of signing a petition for a reprieve. Women asked for equality, so let justice be done. Let people ask themselves; “Suppose that had been my husband or son who had been shot?”‘ Veteran, Bromley, Kent.
‘The fact that society can lock up a woman, and taunt her with the terror that at the end of three weeks a hireling will seize her and break her neck is paralleled only by Nazi cruelty. If Ruth Ellis is executed only evil will come of it. Normal, conscientious people will turn against the British “law,”‘ J. Meller, The Green, North Wembley, Middlesex.
The British public will be smirched if Ruth Ellis is hanged. The public will also suffer increases of violent crime if it acquiesces in this legal murder.’ N.J.M, Letchworth, Hertfordshire
On the July 13, 1955, Ruth stood in front of her executioner Albert Pierrepoint and smiled with gentle acceptance of her fate. Seconds later, she became the last woman to be sentenced to death in the UK.
Having hung over 430 people, her death is said to have haunted Pierrepoint.
When the Ruth Ellis case was reopened by her family again in 2003, they argued their relative had suffered from ‘battered woman syndrome’. Yet, justice remained unserved. Unable to apply the laws outlined in The Homicide Act of 1957 on the basis of diminished responsibility, Ruth remains a victim of the UK’s judicial system.
Muriel Jakubait, the sister of Ruth Ellis who tried to re-open the case, promised to continue Ruth’s legacy and ‘fight on’ in her book ‘Ruth Ellis: My Sister’s Secret Life.
All that is truly evident is that Ruth suffered cruel and unjust treatment by the men in her life. Abused by her father, and multiple partners, she was a woman judged by the legal system and mistreated by those who she held dearest.
Elizabeth Neilson, mother of Ruth Ellis, with her husband Arthur Neilson, about to visit their daughter for the last time (Picture: Rex)
Ruth Ellis was convicted of shooting her lover David Blakely at Hampstead London (Picture: PA)
The tragedy of her life affected her family deeply, George, her ex husband took his own life in 1958 and her mother was found during an attempt to gas herself in her flat.
Reflecting on the case, author Dominic Utton adds that if it had been Blakely who had shot Ruth, it would have been a very different trial. ‘In court the defence would have said, look at her history, she was a prostitute with kids from different people… a woman with “loose morals”. There would have been a whole class thing going on.’
However, Dominic adds, he doesn’t believe that would the case happen today the verdict wouldn’t even be the same.
‘Blakely had been beating her, while Cussen showed her how to use the gun and even drove her to the crime scene, which are huge things that would be taken into consideration,’ he says.
‘Maybe it would be considered manslaughter, but there is no way she would have been found guilty of murder in today’s courts.’
This story was originally published on July 13, 2024
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This is the shocking moment a foul-mouthed boater caused mayhem on the River Thames and narrowly avoided collision with a group of rowers.
Scott Keen steered his boat into a closed-off section of the Thames where a summer regatta was being held while yelling ‘You don’t own the f****** water’.
Despite clear warnings, Keen sailed his unregistered boat, Barney McGrew, across the racing line, forcing one boat into a frantic manoeuvre to avoid a potentially catastrophic collision.
Keen, from Morden, Surrey, was hit with fines and costs of £4,335 over the episode of river rage at Kingston-upon-Thames last July.
Staines Magistrates’ Court heard that Keen steered his boat into a section of the Thames closed off for the Kingston Amateur Regatta, an event established in 1852, swamping rowers and narrowly avoiding a collision.
After ignoring requests to turn back, his cruiser caught the anchor rope of a race stake boat, before he stopped and launched a foul-mouthed tirade at rowers, yelling that ‘they did not own the f***ing water.’
He yelled at the rowers that they ‘didn’t own the water’ (Picture: Environment Agency)
The area had been marked off prior to the regatta (Picture: Environment Agency)
Maria Herlihy, operations manager at the Environment Agency and harbour master of the Thames, said: ‘This incident was a disgrace. Keen showed no regard for the safety of other river users and could easily have caused a tragedy.
‘Quite frankly, it was no surprise to discover that his boat was unregistered, and we are happy with the court result. We hope that this serves as a clear warning to all – anti-social and dangerous behaviour on our rivers will not be tolerated.’
Keen was found guilty of obstructing a boat race and interfering with the safety of persons gathered, failing to comply with a harbour master’s notice, and failing to register his boat for use on the Thames.
He was also found to have navigated his boat dangerously and used abusive language at other river users.
He also failed to attend court on January 28 but was fined the maximum penalty of £1,000.
An Environmental Agency crackdown on unregistered vessels in the Thames last year resulted in 40 boaters having to pay a combined total of over £55,000 for their offences.
Rowers looked on in shock as he drove through the regatta (Picture: Environment Agency)
The boat was unregistered (Picture: Environment Agency)
