Together with Sir John Bussy, Sir William Bagot and Sir Henry Green he had been made responsible for assisting Edmund of Langley, Duke of York in the defence of the realm during Richard's absence, when the exiled Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford seized his chance to invade. Scrope was captured with Bussy and Green when Bristol Castle surrendered to Henry on 28 July 1399. He was executed without trial at Bristol Castle, together with Bussy and Green, and his head carried to London in a white basket to be displayed on London Bridge. After Hereford's ascendance to the throne as Henry IV, Parliament confirmed the sentence and determined that all his estates and title were to be forfeit to the crown.