Ronnie Biggs (8 August 1929 – 18 December 2013)

So after a series of illness and half a  lifetime on the run Ronnie Biggs has died. Part of the Great Train Robbery firm, he became world famous for escaping from prison and evading British justice because he was going to be a father to a child in Brazil!

Ronnie Biggs helped steal £2.6 million pounds in 1963 (approximately £48 million in today’s money) from a post office train. When the authorities caught up with the crooks they got extended sentences because the authorities wanted to set an example. Although Ronnie Biggs was not a organiser of he robbery he became the most famous because he managed to escape and stay on the run for 36 years. 

There were various attempts to capture him but either by luck or incompetence he managed to stay free. He first went to Australia and then Brazil. While in Brazil he was found but when they tried to extradite him they found out that he had got a local lady pregnant and therefore could not be extradited due to some arcane law.

Some ex-soldiers tried to kidnap him in 1981 but their engine stalled and stopped working leaving him to continue his life back in Brazil after the authorities in Barbados refused to extradite him as they also did not have a extradition treaty with the UK. 

While he lived in Brazil he became a tourist attraction and pop star singing with The Sex Pistols. Eventually he came back to the UK because his health deteriorated and he had no money so needed the national health service to help out.

He went back to prison when he came to the UK in 2001, but that was a small price to pay. In fact he managed to make £20,000 by letting The Sun newspaper pay for his flight back. 

While in the UK he finally got freedom in 2009 due to his failing health. His last public appearance was at the funeral of Bruce Reynolds who was really the mastermind, 9 months later Ronnie Biggs died.

Sex Pistols feat. Ronnie Biggs – No One Is Innocent (The Biggest Blow)

Sex Pistols – Belsen Vos a Gassa (Ronnie Biggs)