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Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds dies aged 81 Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds dies aged 81
(35 minutes later)
Bruce Reynolds, the mastermind of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, has died aged 81, just months before the 50th anniversary of infamous heist. Bruce Reynolds, the mastermind of the 1963 Great Train Robbery, has died aged 81, just months before the 50th anniversary of Britain's most infamous heist.
Reynolds, who had been in poor health for some months, was also the author of one of the most honest and literate of criminal memoirs, The Autobiography of a Thief.Reynolds, who had been in poor health for some months, was also the author of one of the most honest and literate of criminal memoirs, The Autobiography of a Thief.
The death was announced by Reynolds's son, Nick, a musician with the band, the Alabama Three, with whom Bruce had occasionally performed on tour. The death was announced by Reynolds's son, Nick, a musician with the band Alabama Three, with whom Bruce had occasionally performed on tour.
"It really is the end of an era," said Leonard "Nipper" Read, the Scotland Yard detective who successfully pursued the robbers. "It was certainly a well-organised operation and Reynolds was the pioneer.""It really is the end of an era," said Leonard "Nipper" Read, the Scotland Yard detective who successfully pursued the robbers. "It was certainly a well-organised operation and Reynolds was the pioneer."
In August 1963, a group of professional criminals from London carried out the elaborate robbery of the Glasgow to Euston mail train in Buckinghamshire and made off with £2.6m. Most, but not all of the robbers, were later caught and sentenced to what were then record sentences of 30 years. In August 1963, a group of professional criminals from London carried out the elaborate robbery of the Glasgow to Euston mail train in Buckinghamshire and made off with £2.6m (around £30m in today's money). Most, but not all of the robbers, were later caught and sentenced to what were then record sentences of 30 years.
Reynolds initially fled the country and hid out under an assumed name in Mexico and Canada with his wife and young son. But he was caught on his return to Britain and jailed for 25 years, a sentence even the late Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Robert Mark, viewed as excessive.Reynolds initially fled the country and hid out under an assumed name in Mexico and Canada with his wife and young son. But he was caught on his return to Britain and jailed for 25 years, a sentence even the late Metropolitan police commissioner, Sir Robert Mark, viewed as excessive.
In 1995, he wrote his memoirs which recounted, without sentimentality or self-pity, how he had embarked on a life of crime after initially seeking a job as a journalist. He chose the title as a homage to Jean Genet, one of his favourite writers and author of The Thief's Journal.In 1995, he wrote his memoirs which recounted, without sentimentality or self-pity, how he had embarked on a life of crime after initially seeking a job as a journalist. He chose the title as a homage to Jean Genet, one of his favourite writers and author of The Thief's Journal.
Various television documentaries are being lined up for the anniversary. Reynolds had been approached by many seeking to capitalise on the event. Many of the robbers have already died: Charlie Wilson was shot dead in Spain in 1990; Buster Edwards committed suicide in 1994; Roy James died in 1997; Jimmy Hussey died last year after supposedly making a deathbed confession that he had been the gang member who coshed the train driver, Jack Mills (he died of leukaemia seven years after the attack). Ronnie Biggs remains in very poor health following a series of strokes. Various television documentaries are being lined up for the anniversary. Reynolds had been approached by many seeking to capitalise on the event. Many of the robbers have already died: Charlie Wilson was shot dead in Spain in 1990; Buster Edwards killed himself in 1994; Roy James died in 1997; Jimmy Hussey died last year after supposedly making a deathbed confession that he had been the gang member who coshed the train driver, Jack Mills, who died of leukaemia seven years after the attack. Ronnie Biggs remains in very poor health following a series of strokes.
The jazz-loving Reynolds, who lived out his last years modestly in Croydon, south London, wrote an article for the Guardian in 2008 about the £53m Securitas robbery, in which he quoted from William Burroughs and Chet Baker.The jazz-loving Reynolds, who lived out his last years modestly in Croydon, south London, wrote an article for the Guardian in 2008 about the £53m Securitas robbery, in which he quoted from William Burroughs and Chet Baker.
Now the anniversary will take place without the man who once said he had planned the robbery as his "line in the sand".Now the anniversary will take place without the man who once said he had planned the robbery as his "line in the sand".