Death came quickly in those days, Ruth spent just 3 weeks and three days in the Condemned Cell.

There was much public sentiment at the time for a reprieve and around a thousand people stood silently outside Holloway Prison at 9.00 am on the Friday morning waiting for the execution notice to be posted outside the gates.

Inside the usual preparations had been made.

Ruth had been weighed and the correct length of drop calculated. The gallows had been tested on the Thursday afternoon using a sand bag of the same weight as Ruth, which was left overnight on the rope to remove any stretch.

On the Friday morning the trap was reset and the rope coiled up so as to leave the leather covered noose dangling at chest height above the trap.

A cross had been placed on the far wall of the execution room at Ruth's request.

On the morning of execution she was given canvas pants to wear which were compulsory for female prisoners. She had also been given a large brandy by the prison doctor to steady her nerves and was attended by a Catholic Priest.
 

At nine o'clock Albert Pierrepoint entered her cell, pinioned her hands behind her back with a leather strap and led her the 15 feet to the gallows.  The white cotton hood was drawn over her head and the noose positioned round her neck.    The assistant pinioned her legs and when all was ready stepped back allowing Pierrepoint to remove the safety pin from the base of the lever and push it to open the trap through which she now plummeted.  The whole process occupied no more than ten seconds and the now lifeless body was examined by the prison doctor before the execution room was locked up and she was left hanging for the regulation hour.

She was then taken down and an autopsy performed by the famous pathologist, Dr. Keith Simpson which showed that she had died virtually instantaneously. Unusually the autopsy report was later published and Simpson noted the presence of brandy in her stomach.

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