After arrest, Haigh remained in custody in Cell 2 of Horsham Police Station in Barttelot Road. The cell door from his incarceration is now preserved in Horsham Museum. He was charged with murder, and had his first appearance before magistrates on 1 April 1949 at the nearby courthouse in what is now known as the Old Town Hall, after which the full trial was held at Lewes Assizes. Haigh pleaded insanity, claiming that he had drunk the blood of his victims.