Elvira Mullens Barney

Elvira Enid Barney (née Mullens; ) was an English socialite and actress known professionally as Dolores Ashley. She was tried for the murder of her lover, Michael Scott Stephen, in 1932. The trial was widely reported by the British press. She was later found not guilty, but died four years later in a Paris hotel room.

Barney was part of the Bright Young Things group of socialites and aristocrats in the 1920s.

Early life Elvira Mullens was born on 22 January 1904, the daughter of Evelyne Maude Adamson (1874-1962) and stockbroker Sir John Ashley Mullens (1869–1937). Her younger sister Avril Joy Mullens married three times, including a short marriage to Ernest Aldrich Simpson, ex-husband of Wallis Simpson.

In 1924, Elvira attended Lady Benson's Drama Academy, studying under Constance Benson. During this time, she was engaged to Charles Patrick Graves. During the 1924–25 theatre season she appeared in The Blue Kitten at the Gaiety Theatre. Barney, Stephen, and some of their guests then went to The Blue Angel, a private club on Dean Street. The following morning, Stephen died of bullet wounds and Barney was arrested and charged with murder.

Barney was defended at her trial by Sir Patrick Hastings, who portrayed her as the innocent party and the victim of little value.

The judge, Sir Travers Humphreys, described Hastings' closing remarks as "certainly one of the finest speeches I have ever heard". Barney was found not guilty of murder and manslaughter, but she was convicted of possession of a firearm. The press reported on Barney boasting of killing Stephen at a celebration party following the verdict.

Barney's family disowned her and she moved to France.

Barney was portrayed by the actress Nicola Duffett in Laugh Baby Laugh, a 1993 segment of the true crime TV series In Suspicious Circumstances.