Joan Henry sentenced to 12 months imprisonment. She served eight months, the majority at Holloway prison, and also at Askham Grange open prison. Before her imprisonment, Henry earned a living writing romance novels. She came to prominence in 1952 with the publication of "Who Lie in Gaol" (the title was taken from a line in Oscar Wilde's "The Ballad of Reading Gaol"), based on her experiences in prison, which became a best-seller. Henry was critical of Holloway prison, giving accounts of brutal treatment and neglect she had witnessed. The book was the basis for the film "The Weak and the Wicked" (1953),
Charles Thomas Wooldridge to be carried out. On the morning of the execution Wooldridge attended a service in the prison chapel, showed repentance for his terrible crime and was resigned to his fate. Because of "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" Wooldridge became the most famous person ever to be executed at Reading. The executioner was James Billington, whose use of a drop longer than specified by the official Table of Drops stretched Wooldridge's neck by eleven inches. He was aged 30 when executed. Wilde was imprisoned in Reading Gaol when Wooldridge was hanged there on Saturday 7 July 1896; the two never met