The verdict was, in reality, a foregone conclusion. There could be no denying that Augustus had shot his mother dead and was therefore guilty of murder but the jury still took twenty five minutes to return their verdict. When the verdict did come, the jury added a recommendation to mercy on account of the treatment Augustus had received from his mother during his life.

It did nothing to save the life of Augustus Penny and less than three weeks later, on Wednesday, 26 November 1913, he was hanged at Winchester by John Ellis and Albert Lumb. As for the shotgun used to kill Matilda Penny, local legend has it that it later passed into the hands of a farmer, Mr Evelyn Light, who used it for years afterwards – to shoot rabbits!