Chief Justice Pratt declared the arrest illegal on the ground that the warrant was bad, and that Wilkes, being at the time M.P.for Aylesbury, enjoyed the privilege of Parliament.

A jury awarded Wilkes heavy damages against the Government for false imprisonment, and the result of the trial made Wilkes a popular hero.

Then, in 1764, the Government brought a new charge of blasphemy and libel, and Wilkes, expelled from the House of Commons, and condemned by the King's Bench, fled to France, and was promptly declared an outlaw.

He returned, however, a year or two later, and while in prison was elected M.P.for Middlesex.

The House of Commons, led by the Government, set the election aside, and riots for "Wilkes and Liberty" broke out in London.