By today's standards, the use of the gibbet was harsh, often being deployed for the punishment of both minor and major offences. Local Gibbet Law dictated that 'If a felon be taken within the liberty of Halifax...either hand-habend (caught with the stolen goods in his hand or in the act of stealing), back-berand (caught carrying stolen goods on his back), or confessand (having confessed to the crime), to the value of thirteen pence half-penny, he shall after three markets...be taken to the Gibbet and there have his head cut off from his body'. While the sum may sound paltry by today's standards, English Common Law at that time permitted the death penalty for thefts to the value of twelve pence and above.

When a thief was caught, he was placed in the custody of the Lord of the Manor's Bailiff. The Bailiff was an important official in that he kept the gaol, the gibbet-axe, and occasionally acted as executioner. Four constables of the Township then met to assess the value of the contraband. If the consensus was that it exceeded the minimum threshold, the Bailiff summoned a jury of sixteen men, usually selected from those who the manor held to be the 'most wealthy and best reputed for honesty and understanding.' Jurors were not put on oath, although their duties hardly required it as they were far from onerous. Their primary responsibility was to identify the goods and confirm its value, and ascertain the means by which the thief (hand-habend, back-berand or confessand). At this point the thief was confronted by the evidence. If he was then acquitted, he was set free after having paid the court fees; if he was condemned, arrangements were made for the execution. Markets occurred on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays: the main market was held on Saturday. These were busy affairs and the spectacle of a decapitation - all beheadings took place at the Saturday market - added to the numbers attending.

After conviction, the felon's fate depended on which day of the week he had been tried. If it took place on a Saturday, he was immediately led to the market place and beheaded. If it was a Monday, he would be kept for three market-days and then beheaded at the next Saturday market. During the intervening days, the prisoner was placed back in the care of the Manor Bailiff and held in gaol. Each day he was taken out and placed in the stocks as a public display of justice being served and as a deterrent to others, often with the contraband placed around him: the stolen cloth would be draped around his shoulders, while stolen animals would be tethered about him.

A curious note on the act of beheading is recorded by the Halifax historian Wright, in which he tells of a country woman on horseback who passed the gibbet while an execution was taking place. At her sides were large wicker baskets, and when the head of the victim was dispatched, the force of the descending axe caused it to bounce a considerable distance "into one of the hampers, or, as others say, seized her apron with its teeth, and there stuck for some time."