London's High Court today upheld the murder conviction against the last woman to be hanged in Britain.
Ruth Ellis was 28 when she was hanged in 1955 after being found guilty of shooting her lover David Blakely, a racing driver, as he left a London pub.
Ellis's family had asked the court to re-examine the case, which they said was skewed against her because the original trial judge would not allow a defence of provocation.
They also said Ellis was suffering from battered-woman syndrome when she killed Mr Blakely.
But the High Court judge, Lord Justice Kay, said in his ruling: "Under the law as it was at the date of the trial, the judge was quite right to withdraw the defence of provocation from the jury."
Lord Justice Kay added that there were no grounds for appeal on the basis that Ellis was suffering from diminished responsibility at the time of the killing.
Britain abolished the death penalty in 1964.