Great Train Robbery

GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY. Often referred to as "The Crime Of The Century". The £2.6 million pound Great Train Robbery took place on 8th August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge at Ledburn Buckinghamshire.Thought to be one of the largest value robberys in history worth around £40 million pounds (in todays money) ; all in used £1 / £5 and £10 notes, most of which was never recovered. The majority of the gang were caught and jailed in April 1964. Due to the notoriety of the crime, the UK government chose to make examples of the gang and they all received long custodial sentences. However, three of the gangs members stories did not end there ; Famously Ronnie Biggs escaped from jail after 15 months and spent most of his life in Australia and Brazil, untouchable for the British authorities. He voluntarily returned to Britain in May 2001 due to poor health. He was returned to prison, but in 2007 it was announced he would be released on compassionate, incurable health grounds. He died in a nursing home aged 84 in 2013. Buster Edwards had a film "Buster" starring Phil Collins made of his life. After the robbery he went to Mexico, but later surrendered to the police in 1966. He was released from prison in 1980 and then ran a flower stall outside London Waterloo Station ; he commited suicide in 1994. Bruce Reynolds was widely regarded to be the brains behind the robbery ; a career criminal who enjoyed the high life. After the robbery, he spent years in South America before returning to Britain and being jailed for 10 years. He was released in 1979 and carved out a career within the media and as an author. He died aged 81 in 2013. Charlie Wilson was the GTR treasurer and an organiser. He was shot & killed by a hitman in Spain in 1990. Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Slipper nicknamed "Slipper of The Yard" became famous for his role investigating the Great Train Robbery and subsequently trying (but failing) to extradite Ronnie Biggs from Brazil. Despite rumours, Biggs had remained untraced until 1974, when he gave an interview to the Daily Express. The newspaper passed his location onto the police and he was captured on 1st February. DCI Jack Slipper travelled to Brazil, where he attempted to arrest Biggs in a hotel in Rio De Janeiro with the words "Long time no see, Ronnie." But the Brazilian government turned down the request for extradition on the grounds that Biggs was to become the father of his pregnant Brazilian girlfriend's child. Slipper was forced to return home empty-handed. Famously, he was then photographed on the plane home (sleeping next to an empty seat) and was christened "Slip-up of the Yard" by the press. Jack Slipper died of cancer aged 81 in 2005.