Therefore, Wilde served the bulk of his sentence at Reading, and since that time Reading Gaol has been synonymous with the writer. By July 1895, Wilde was in Wandsworth prison and during his time there his health appears to have declined, he was assessed by medical officers and in November it was decided he should be sent to a ‘country prison’, Reading was chosen. Most people who experienced local prisons like Reading or Pentonville at this time, did so for short sentences, often a month or less.Īt the conclusion of sentencing at the Old Bailey, Wilde spent the weekend in nearby Newgate prison before being sent to Pentonville. The judge remarked that he would be passing the severest sentence and did so, imprisonment with hard labour for two years’ was the maximum sentence of imprisonment permitted and only a tiny number of people each year were given such a sentence. He had been sentenced for crimes of ‘gross indecency’ or laws relating to homosexuality (under the Criminal Law Amendment 1885) having been found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey on. Wilde’s freedom had finally arrived after serving two years’ imprisonment with hard labour. The previous evening, Wilde had passed through the gate of Reading Gaol, as he was taken by rail to London, to be released via Pentonville prison, partly to avoid any media attention. On this day …, 125 years ago Oscar Wilde was released from prison.
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