This is the list of Ruth Ellis’s PROPERTY taken by the police at the time of her arrest, although it is curiously dated 2nd May 1955, 22 days after the shooting. In capital letters and underlined it states: ‘PROPERTY MARKED **HAS BEEN RETURNED TO MRS ELLIS.’ Beneath this it states: ‘NO PROPERTY WAS TAKEN BY POLICE FROM MRS ELLIS’S FLAT AT 44 EGERTON GARDENS.’ Why?
Why was this LIST deemed so sensitive that it was in a secret file not to be opened until 2031? It was released at The National Archives, at my request in February 2006, 51 years after the crime for which Ruth Ellis was hanged. According to the third item on the list she only had SIXPENCE COPPER. Ruth Ellis originally stated to the police she had taken a taxi from Knightsbridge to Hampstead. A taxi fare that distance, at that time, would have cost 7 shillings and sixpence. If murder were on her mind surely she would not have left herself so short of money!
Mr Bickford, Ruth Ellis’s solicitor at Cardew, Smith and Ross wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions on 25 April 1955, in which it stated, “If it is possible, we should also like to have a list of the articles in the possession of the Police, which were either removed from our client or her flat at 44 Egerton Gardens and an opportunity for inspection.”
