The Infamous Man That Robbed A Train Then Broke Out Of Prison | Daring Capers S1 EP07 | Wonder

[Music] to stop a speeding train in its tracks and make off with millions the planning had to be perfect it became the crime by which all of us will be mentioned [Music] [Applause] in the early morning hours of August 8th 1963 a Royal Mail tree and made its run from Glasgow to London fireman David would be an engineer Jack Mills traveled this route night postal workers routinely sorted and organized the mail during the run although it wasn't public knowledge sometimes these trains also carried huge deposits from outlying banks this particular consignment was especially large because of the August bank holiday security was light and why not trains on this line had made this trip for years without incident but a daring gang of thieves was about to change all that the plan was ingenious they chose a desolate stretch of track two hours outside London and cut all communication with the outside world stopping a train traveling at 70 miles an hour was their biggest challenge using battery power they made the red light burn twice as bright as usual then the gangway upon seeing the red signal might engineer jet melts quickly stop the train [Music] Mills sent his rifle Dave the trackside telephone to find out what was going [Music] would be have made this run numerous times without mishap so even when he found the cut wires he didn't immediately anticipate the danger that awaited him until it was too late Whitney was told if he shouted they would kill him the thieves made certainty engineer Mills would cooperate occasionally the train did stop during each work so none of the postal workers inside suspected anything [Music] every detail of the robbery had been planned with military precision while some of the Gangnam is secured the engine others were assigned to separate the first car from the rest of the Train this was the high-value coach and contained what the thieves were looking [Music] [Applause] a mile down the track Mel's was ordered to stop the train where the other gang members were waiting [Music] they didn't waste any time the postal workers inside were caught completely off-guard before they could even comprehend with his hammer the thief had broken into the coach the gang then brought the posters forward to the engine compartment and handcuffed them along with Mills and Whitney who were already secured they were about to make off with the biggest haul ever taken from a British railroad over 7.3 million dollars it was a brilliant crime because of the planning because of the business of stopping the train at one point cutting off the guard take away the engine and two carriages it was super bleep land it took the thieves only 15 minutes to completely empty the contents of the high-value coach 124 sacks filled with money and route from northern banks to their London counterparts then the thieves drove off in Land Rovers painted like military vehicles hoping that anyone who saw them would believe they were soldiers up my time maneuver [Music] the rub had gone according to plan [Music] now their escape would have to be just as Masterclass if they were to stay ahead of the one down the track a signal and wondered why the engine had been uncoupled running to the scene of the crime he quickly got his answer engineer Mills immediately sent him to get help the gang had planned the heist to take place in a remote location the nearest farmhouse was over 30 minutes away by foot the delay gave the gang time to escape we've got the VHF open listening for police transmissions and there's nothing not a sign of anything and they think they blanked it they put a silencer and something they hear the police coming and they hear the wonderful message you'll never believe this they've just stolen a train a 30-minute head start was all they needed at an abandoned farm called lettuce night they planned to lie low until the search cooled racing against the dawn they unloaded the money into the house and hid the landlubbers in buildings out back a professional robber a professional thief has three great rewards there's the intellectual reward planning working out how to do it they have minds and they like using them there's the adrenaline rush of going in now we're doing it now by breaking into somebody's property now we're going for it and there's the gamblers thrill of what have we got how much have we got now for the train robbery you have expert and brilliant planning you have the excitement of a 50-minute drive through back lanes waiting for the Train it's come where in we've got it and then when they get back was there as much money as they hoped to and a half million pounds in used notes more than anybody's ever had before they got the rewards the gang consisted of experienced members from London's underworld but even these cagey thieves were in awe of the amount they had taken it took an entire day to counter divvy up the score each man would walk away with the hefty sum of 150,000 pounds over three-quarters of a million in today's dollars one man Ronald Biggs could hardly believe his luck he was a petty crook but had managed to use his charm and charisma to make connections with more accomplished criminals he had met Bruce Reynolds the gangs ringleader in prison when Reynolds realized Biggs had a connection at the railroad it was a match made in heaven the English people and press couldn't believe it Train Robbery that was Jesse James that was America a hundred years ago this doesn't happen it and the amount that it was a sensation the local police and Scotland Yard detectives immediately came to the scene of the crime the police scoured the scene for clues and they quickly ascertained that the bandits were no amateurs they had not only succeeded in stopping a train they had also vanished without a clue at the Train the robbers made one mistake they shouted to the postal workers don't move for half an hour we've got someone watching you now the police had nothing to go on except this shout and superintendent McArthur said wait a minute that may mean they're somewhere which is half an hour's distance away draw a radius of 30 miles round the bridge and let's search every farm in that radius detective Jack slipper part of the team assigned to the case remembers how that simple clue focused the initial search well that becomes very important to us because the senior people at the yard would have been called in realized that they couldn't have got back to London in 20 minutes Scotland Yard enlisted local law enforcement and the army to conduct the search of the surrounding countryside local citizens were stopped and asked if they had seen anything that evening the plan was to lie low for at least four days at the farm each man took a turn at keeping watch and they carefully monitored the police radio to follow the progress of the search when they heard over the radio that the army would be according to search every building in a radius of 20 or 25 miles or the bounds of our houses and everything they or some of them panicked the robbers decided to move out immediately they slipped away a few at a time so as not to raise suspicion Scotland Yard detectives knew time was of the essence they had to find the gang before they left the country they sent plainclothesman to scour the underworld for any tips and they also continued to focus on the surrounding countryside where the crime took place surely someone saw something that night but the gang members had slipped through their fingers making it back to London and concealing themselves in the city today has been a working day Ronald Biggs was one of the gang members who headed back to London after the heist he simply returned to his family went back to his job as a carpenter and acted as if nothing had happened Biggs was a known ex criminal in London at the time of the Great Train Robbery he had a lot of form but he hadn't actually committed any crimes for four years he was setting himself up reasonably successfully as a builder but he did need more capital to keep his business going Biggs now had all the money he had ever dreamed of and then sauna but spending it would tip off the police turning to his connections in the underworld big split up his take and gave it to friends for safekeeping five days after the robbery a neighboring farmer became suspicious when he noticed black curtains in the windows of the farmhouse a fun closer inspection he found one of the Land Rovers he knew the farm had been uninhabited for some time so he immediately contacted the police the thieves had planned to have an associate clean the hideout and remove any evidence that would implicate them but before he could get there the police were scouring the property for clues the fingerprint experts went in and covered everything and then they found fingerprints on the ketchup bottle fingerprints on the sources of milk put out for the cats fingerprints on the monopoly money fingerprints on the saltcellar fingerprints on one of the wrappers that the banknotes had been able they also found empty mail bags in a hole in the front yard but only 684 pounds sterling in very used notes were recovered the police had secured an abundance of evidence it would take time to analyze the fingerprints and match them to known criminals attempting to sequester their money two of the thieves hid their stash in a truck and traveled outside London to find a garage for rent they offered the landlady three months cash in advance while the man was still there she phoned the police the robbers had unluckily called upon a policeman's Widow she was instantly suspicious when the men pulled the large amount of cash when the police asked them for identification the men fled [Music] [Applause] [Music] the officers inspected the truck and found over 140,000 pounds in banknotes in London Ronald Biggs kept his eye on the news but it didn't faze him that their hideout had been discovered he was confident that he had left nothing behind that could link him to the crime at Scotland Yard after weeks of poring over the evidence detectives were narrowing their list of suspects when they examined the fingerprints from the leatherslade farm they discovered that the prints matched several ex-cons in and around London one of them was rung bings Scotland Yard traced Ronald banks because he left a fingerprint on a ketchup bottle they quickly descended upon his apartment but bigness wasn't at home his wife attempted to reach him at work but police feared that she would tip him off the wily bigs had so far managed to elude Scotland Yard but now they were about to catch up to him when Ronald Biggs got home from work that evening he was surprised to find Scotland Yard detectives waiting for him at his flat with each day that have passed since the robbery he had grown more confident that he was in the clear the police tried to get Biggs to implicate other gang members but he refused however the evidence collected at leatherslade farm was enough for police to arrest the majority of the gang members Charles Wilson's fingerprints were found at the farm and he was arrested James hussies prints were also found and he was brought up on charges for buying the getaway vehicles prints implicated Roy the weasel James and after a dramatic rooftop chase he was arrested John wheter a solicitor who had helped the gang find and use leatherslade farm was arrested for conspiracy as was Leonard field who had pretended to be interested in purchasing the farm a German hotel bill found in one stash of confiscated money led to the arrest of Brian field 14 people were rounded up in the initial sweep but police were only able to recover 300,000 of the two and a half million pounds stolen fingerprints on the monopoly set implicated Bruce Reynolds yet he proved to be one of the most difficult to arrest the man who had masterfully planned the Great Train Robbery had also set up an elaborate escape using a false passport he left England for France and vanished in blue was captained by the Great Train Robbery for weeks the arrests and the trials were all over the news the gang had become media sensations but when the sentences were handed down people were stoned I don't think most people were upset that the train robbers were caught that was exciting it kept the story going we learnt more about it what the English people were upset about were these sentences 30-year sentences this was more than you would get for rape and murder and that really outraged a lot of people Ronald Biggs was sentenced to 30 years but that wasn't the end of his story he wasn't about to spend the rest of his life in jail we say it was the most audacious crime of the century this Train Robbery but also involved in the Train Robbery sometimes some time afterwards was another audacious crime that was the most daring escape of all after his conviction Biggs was sent to ones with prison where he was classified as special watch prisoner two guards sat outside his cell at all times but this did not deter his plan for escape he had recruited a fellow inmate Paul Seaborn who was about to be released Siebel would use the Train Robbery to make arrangements on the outside because Vegas was about to be transferred to a high-security prison they would have to act quickly the prisoners were randomly assigned to exercise periods in an effort to thwart any plans for escape [Music] digs in list of the health of two fellow convicts and when they were finally all together in the yard the plan was on [Music] the prisoners weren't effective decoy allowing bigots to make it over the wall like the robbery the escape relied on shrewd planning and split-second timing after only a year and a half in prison Biggs was a free man again using proceeds from the robbery he went to Paris and had plastic surgery under the cover of a new identity Biggs disappeared after only a few years later Bruce Reynolds luck ran out five years after the robbery Scotland Yard had finally snared the gangs ringleader now the focus was on Biggs the manhunt led them to Australia Scotland Yard spent months chasing leads but Biggs get one step ahead of the law persuading a friend to lend him his passport Biggs traveled to Brazil Biggs lived in Rio de Janeiro under an assumed name for four years the money from the robbery now spent he needed to cash in on his exploits he persuaded the Daily Express of British newspaper to buy his incredible story [Music] the brazen bigs now in essence was soliciting all of England to fund his life on the lam Jack slipper learnt from a journalist called McKenzie or through a journalist called McKenzie who was writing a life of Ronald Biggs that Biggs was now in Rio he went out with a warrant for his arrest slipper left for Brazil to bring back the man who had eluded authorities for nine years he kept observation on that hotel for many hours and twelve o'clock just after 12:00 on Friday I saw pigs into the hotel slipper arrested things at the hotel Trocadero and was about to take him back to England when Biggs found a way to stop him his girlfriend Raimundo who was an exotic dancer and rather an exotic figure announced that she was pregnant Brazil has a law that the parent of a Brazilian citizen may not be extradited they must stay and try and support their child Slipper returned to England empty-handed once again Biggs had evaded capture for Biggs his years in hiding were over he was now officially protected by the Brazilian government the petty crook now considered a folk hero became one of Rio's tourist attractions in 1993 retired Chief Superintendent slipper the man who had tried to bring him to justice was reunited with Biggs in a media event staged by the Daily Express Biggs will never come back on his own steam he's got 28 years of prison still outstanding and he's aged he's now 69 if he does come back on his own steam there's only one place for him as once was prison while Ronald Biggs eluded authorities most of the gang paid dearly for this crime of the century the majority served 10 years hard time before making the Great Train Robbery though cunning in its conception and daring in its execution ended in disaster for nearly everyone involved [Music]

Channel: Wonder

Views: 386,743

Keywords: England thieves, Royal mail theft, Wonder, audacious crimes, brilliant criminals, crime chronicles, crime investigation, crime spree, crime syndicate, criminal pursuits, daring exploits, daring operators, daring plots, great train robbery, infamous robbers, notorious criminals, notorious fugitives, theft capers, train robbery, underworld figures, wealthy thieves

Id: bgWBQtOP8FE

Length: 25min 34sec (1534 seconds)

Published: Fri Jun 26 2020