Bruce Reynolds
Bruce Richard Reynolds (born September 7, 1931 in London , † February 28, 2013 ibid) was the leader of the band of robbers who committed the Great Mail Train Robbery in 1963 .
Life
Reynolds was born the son of a unionist and a nurse. He came into conflict with the law at an early age and was imprisoned for 18 months for break-ins at the age of 17. Over the years he rose to be the leader of a "company" (group of criminals) and a little "star" in the London underworld because of his cunning break-ins and robberies. He led an increasingly elaborate lifestyle. Officially, he mostly posed as an antique dealer from Croydon in order to cover up his life as a notorious criminal. His prison stays totaled almost a decade in 1963.
The attack on the mail train
On August 8, 1963, Reynolds attacked along with Ronald Biggs , Ronald Buster Edwards , Charlie Wilson ("The Silent"), Roy James ("The Weasel"), Thomas Wisbey, Robert Welch, Gordon Goody, James Hussey, Rodger Cordrey, James White and some strangers took the royal mail train from Glasgow to London at 3:10 a.m. The train was stopped at Sears Crossing in Ledburn, near Mentmore in the county of Buckinghamshire , by a manipulated train signal and driven 1.5 km further to the Bridego bridge . One of the mail robbers (allegedly Edwards) knocked down the train driver Jack Mills, who suffered a concussion and permanent trauma. Mills died of leukemia seven years later .
The booty consisted of 120 money bags with £ 2,631,684 (around 55 million pounds sterling or 61 million euros based on today's value ).
While most of those involved were quickly caught and sentenced to prison terms of up to 30 years in 1964, Reynolds successfully went into hiding after the robbery and fled via France to Mexico , where he lived with his family and, in some cases, Buster Edwards under a false name for a few years. He was caught on November 8, 1968 while staying in Torquay , England, and sentenced to 25 years in prison in January 1969. In 1978 he was released early. In 1984 he was jailed again for allegedly trafficking hashish and amphetamines , but was pardoned in March 1985.
Life after prison
As a consultant for the film Buster, with Phil Collins in the title role (1988), Reynolds finally gained access to the world of media and was soon a popular television guest. In 1998 he presented the Telestar TV Prize to Horst Tappert , who had played it 33 years earlier in The Gentlemen's Ask to the Cashier . In addition, the well-read and cultured Reynolds was active as a lecturer, among other things at the elite school Eton College , and as a writer of cinema reviews. In 1995 he published his autobiography ( Autobiography of a Thief ). In 2007, connected to a lie detector , he was questioned about the mail robbery in an episode of Galileo Mystery .
Reynolds last lived in modest circumstances in Croydon in south London and was supported by a charity. He died on the morning of February 28, 2013.
Quotes
“Crime pays? You must be mad. "
“Crime Pays? You must be crazy. "
Web links
- Bruce Reynolds in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Fan page with a description of the mail robbery
- Obituary in the Süddeutsche Zeitung
Individual evidence
- ↑ These figures were determined with the template: Inflation and the template: Exchange rate and refer at most to the previous calendar year
- ↑ http://www.trainrobbery.de/timeline.html
- ↑ Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds dies aged 81
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Reynolds, Bruce |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Reynolds, Bruce Richard |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | British mail robber |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 7, 1931 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | London |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 28, 2013 |
| Place of death | London |