He was followed to the tailors, and arrested. Thomas Holford was held in custody at Newgate, where he was condemned on 26 August 1588. He was hanged (though not drawn and quartered) on 28 August 1588, at Clerkenwell. The executions which took place on this day and shortly thereafter were not all at the usual sites for executions in London, but were spread across the city to make an example of those condemned for their treasonous acts. This has been interpreted as a gesture of reprisal following the defeat of the Spanish Armada. In the 2004 edition of the Roman Martyrology, Holford is listed as one of a group of eight martyrs who died in London on 28 August 1588. Following the Roman custom of naming a principal martyr 'and companions', the principal martyr is one William Dean, a priest. Three other priests are named besides Holford: William Gunter, Robert Morton and James Claxton. The group is completed by Thomas Felton, a Franciscan cleric, and the laymen Henry Webley and Hugh More. Blessed Thomas is the eponymous patron of Blessed Thomas Holford Catholic College in Altrincham. There is a panel picture of him in St Joseph’s Church, Sale.