Who was David Blakely and how did Ruth Ellis kill him?

DAVID Blakely was a racecar driver who was murdered by his girlfriend Ruth Ellis, after he subjected her to abuse throughout their relationship. 

The days leading up to his death at Ruth’s hands will be dramatised in the upcoming ITV series A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis.

Born racer

Blakely was born in Ecclesall, Sheffield, to a Scottish father and an Irish mother. 

His parents separated when he was young and his mother then married a man named Humphrey Wyndham Cook in 1941. 

Blakely was educated at Shrewsbury and became interested in motor racing at a young age. 

In his beloved HRG racing car, he took second place at Brands Hatch on Boxing Day 1954 and went on to have even greater success.

During the period spanning 1951-1953, he came in 1st, 3rd, 4th and 6th at Silverstone and Goodwood. 

However, Blakely’s career was cut short after a brief relationship with the soon-to-be murderer Ruth Ellis. 

Killed by his girlfriend

Ruth was a nightclub manager, who worked in West London after moving the British capital from Berkshire. 

She had survived a tough upbringing, where she had been abused by her dad which forced her to leave home at a young age. 

Ruth had a baby at the age of 18 and worked as an escort, before becoming a nightclub manager and making making numerous celebrity friends.

Blakely started dating Ruth in 1953, but their relationship quickly became strained and extremely volatile. 

The racecar driver was physically abusive to his new girlfriend and even caused her to have a miscarriage in 1955, after a particularly violent incident.

On Easter Sunday that same year, Ruth took a taxi to find Blakely while armed with a revolver.

Upon seeing the racer, she jumped out of the taxi and fired six shots at him.  

After killing her ex-partner, Ruth asked Blakely’s friend a simple question: "Will you call the police, Clive?"

Ruth in court

In court at the Old Bailey, Ruth wore a fitted black suit and had her hair dyed platinum blonde. 

When asked if she meant to kill Blakely, she said: "It's obvious when I shot him I intended to kill him."

Ruth was convicted of murder within twenty minutes of the jury deliberating and was later executed on July 12, 1955.

In the days leading up to her hanging, Ruth wrote to Blakely’s parents and said that she will “die still loving” their son. 

Her death was extremely controversial and kickstarted a national conversation which led to the abolition of capital punishment. 

A cruel love

Ruth’s incredible story and violent romance will be explored in the ITV drama A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis story. 

The nightclub manager will be played by Lucy Boynton and DCI Davies, the man who caught Ruth, will be played by Joe Armstrong.

Fans can catch the series, which will star as Blakely, when it debuts in 2025.