 He was sentenced to one year's work in a chain-gang – a time spent at hard labour, living in a convict station and wearing a convict uniform, mainly in the company of non-political prisoners such as "rapists, muggers and thieves".In March 1851 he was released and taken back to Hobart Town.Undeterred, he immediately restarted his paper, prominently featuring an extensive personal account of his year with the chain gang.