The jury took less than half an hour to reach its verdict

Ellis was hanged in 1955 after being convicted of shooting dead her lover - racing driver David Blakely - outside the Magdala pub in Hampstead, north-west London.

Forty-seven years later, the Court of Appeal in London is being urged by Ellis's sister and others to reduce the conviction to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

The case has been referred by the Criminal Cases Review Commission, which investigates possible miscarriages of justice.

Ellis's sister, Muriel Jakubait, 82, from Woking in Surrey, is expected to attend the hearing.

She believes she is fulfilling her sister's dying wish by pursuing the appeal.

Miscarriage

"I've stood by that - what she said - the truth would come out.

"But what she didn't think about was who would do it and I've been the one to strive for her," she told BBC News.

The judges will hear that Ellis had a miscarriage after being punched by Mr Blakely just 10 days before she killed him.

Lawyers will also point to the role played by another of Ellis's boyfriends, who was said to have given her the gun and taught her to use it before driving her to the murder scene.

Who does know what happened? Tish Campbell, pub landlady On This Day: 13 July, 1955

Ellis's grandchildren are expected to be in court for the appeal hearing, but her son and daughter are no longer alive.

Ellis, who was born in Rhyl, north Wales, was 28 when she was hanged at Holloway Prison in 1955.

The death penalty in the UK was suspended in 1965 and permanently removed in 1970.

At Ellis's trial, the judge ruled out a defence of provocation by her violent lover.

The trial was held two months after the shooting and lasted just over a day, with the jury taking less than half an hour to reach its verdict.

The Magdala's current landlady Tish Campbell says some of her customers still remember the incident and that the pub attracts visitors because of the murder.

"Not many of my regulars exactly know what happened. It was obviously a crime of passion," she said.

"Who does know what happened?"

The appeal hearing is expected to last two days, with judgement to be delivered in writing at a later date.

The appeal judges are Lord Justice Kay, Mr Justice Silber and Mr Justice Leveson.