Ronnie Biggs, the infamous bank robber died on Wednesday at the age of 84. His is a life story that reads more like something from the pages/screen of Shantaram-cum-Prison Break than actual events. Biggs was part of the notorious band of criminals who robbed a mail train in 1963, which bagged him and his 15 accomplices approximately £2.6 million pounds (more than £45 million in today’s money).
The combination of extraordinary amount of money and the bravado of the criminals gave the thieves global exposure, but placed huge emphasis on a nationwide witch-hunt for the criminals, the government browbeating the police to arrest those involved. The Conservative government of the time was still deeply embarrassed by the Profumo affair that implicated the Secretary of State for war in an affair with the mistress of a Soviet Spy, resultantly the criminals needed to be taught a lesson by a seemingly inept government. Criminal penalties were harsh, and Biggs got 30 years.
