After retiring for just under an hour, the jury returned with a verdict of guilty, which implicitly declared Straffen sane. Mr Justice Cassels sentenced Straffen to death. Straffen appealed on the grounds that the evidence about the Bath murders was wrongly admitted, and that his statements on the morning after Linda's murder were wrongly admitted because they had been made before he was cautioned. Both grounds of the appeal were dismissed, and Straffen was refused leave to appeal to the House of Lords. 4 September was fixed as the date for execution of judgment of death. However, on 29 August, it was announced that Home Secretary David Maxwell Fyfe had recommended to the Queen that Straffen be reprieved.