Dan Cooper
Victory Salute
The Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, whose escape from jail and decades spent on the run in Australia and Brazil made him one of Britain’s most notorious criminals, has died at the age of 84.
Biggs was part of a gang of robbers, masterminded by Bruce Reynolds, that stopped the Glasgow-Euston overnight mail train in 1963 and escaped with £2.6 million ($4.75 million), an amount equivalent to £40 million today. It was the biggest robbery of its time.
The self-defined "crook" won worldwide notoriety after escaping Wandsworth prison in London in 1965 and living the high life in Rio de Janeiro and Sydney. He spent 36 years on the run before finally being arrested and jailed in 2001.
Released from prison on compassionate grounds in 2009 because of ill health, he was being cared for in a north London nursing home.
For many years, Biggs made law enforcement look like the idiots. Following his vanishing act from Australia, the trail went cold. Throughout 1970 and 1971, there were reports of sightings in Hong Kong, South Africa and Japan, but there were no firm leads as to Biggs' precise whereabouts.
In fact, he was building a new life for himself in Brazil. In the sunshine city of Rio de Janeiro the fugitive, now calling himself Michael Haynes, carved out a new career as a jobbing carpenter.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/great-train-robber-ronnie-biggs-dies-20131218-2zl7f.html
Biggs was part of a gang of robbers, masterminded by Bruce Reynolds, that stopped the Glasgow-Euston overnight mail train in 1963 and escaped with £2.6 million ($4.75 million), an amount equivalent to £40 million today. It was the biggest robbery of its time.
The self-defined "crook" won worldwide notoriety after escaping Wandsworth prison in London in 1965 and living the high life in Rio de Janeiro and Sydney. He spent 36 years on the run before finally being arrested and jailed in 2001.
Released from prison on compassionate grounds in 2009 because of ill health, he was being cared for in a north London nursing home.
For many years, Biggs made law enforcement look like the idiots. Following his vanishing act from Australia, the trail went cold. Throughout 1970 and 1971, there were reports of sightings in Hong Kong, South Africa and Japan, but there were no firm leads as to Biggs' precise whereabouts.
In fact, he was building a new life for himself in Brazil. In the sunshine city of Rio de Janeiro the fugitive, now calling himself Michael Haynes, carved out a new career as a jobbing carpenter.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/great-train-robber-ronnie-biggs-dies-20131218-2zl7f.html
