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To know why the Great Train Robbery stills fascinates, read Robert Browning To know why the Great Train Robbery still fascinates, read Robert Browning
(about 1 hour later)
Cops and robbers, robbers and cops. Our interest never seems to wane.Cops and robbers, robbers and cops. Our interest never seems to wane.
This week the BBC will be screening two dramas, called, appropriately enough, A Copper's Tale and A Robber's Tale, written by Chris Chibnall, who wrote the television drama Broadchurch. It may be 50 years since the Great Train Robbery, on which the dramas are based, but it seems to have lost none of its grip on the national psyche. What is sometimes forgotten is that this was a theft from the Royal Mail. Not only had the robbers audaciously stopped a train and taken £2.5m in used notes but they had stolen from a revered national institution. Apart from breaking into Buckingham Palace and nicking the silver, they could not have been more disrespectful.This week the BBC will be screening two dramas, called, appropriately enough, A Copper's Tale and A Robber's Tale, written by Chris Chibnall, who wrote the television drama Broadchurch. It may be 50 years since the Great Train Robbery, on which the dramas are based, but it seems to have lost none of its grip on the national psyche. What is sometimes forgotten is that this was a theft from the Royal Mail. Not only had the robbers audaciously stopped a train and taken £2.5m in used notes but they had stolen from a revered national institution. Apart from breaking into Buckingham Palace and nicking the silver, they could not have been more disrespectful.
How ironic then that just as this tale is being retold, the Royal Mail has been sold off, cut price, to make a bunch of investors wealthy and fill a tiny hole in the country's economy. What better illustration could there be of the way Britain has changed in the past half century? Then, it was crooks who stole from the Royal Mail, now the government nicks the goods and passes them on to their fences in the City.How ironic then that just as this tale is being retold, the Royal Mail has been sold off, cut price, to make a bunch of investors wealthy and fill a tiny hole in the country's economy. What better illustration could there be of the way Britain has changed in the past half century? Then, it was crooks who stole from the Royal Mail, now the government nicks the goods and passes them on to their fences in the City.
It was only because of the importance of the Royal Mail in the national consciousness that the robbers received those very hefty 30-year jail terms. As the trial judge, Mr Justice Edmund Davies, told them, it was "a crime which in its impudence and enormity is the first of its kind in this country … a sordid crime of violence inspired by vast greed".It was only because of the importance of the Royal Mail in the national consciousness that the robbers received those very hefty 30-year jail terms. As the trial judge, Mr Justice Edmund Davies, told them, it was "a crime which in its impudence and enormity is the first of its kind in this country … a sordid crime of violence inspired by vast greed".
At the time, a jail sentence for robbery, even one in which someone had been coshed – as happened to the train driver, Jack Mills – was about 10 years or so. Suddenly the tariff was trebled, one of the reasons why our jails are now bulging while less punitive countries, like Sweden, are closing theirs. It was also a time before robbers were routinely armed. One of the unintended consequences of the long sentences was that robbers soon realised that there was little difference in the terms they could expect for carrying a firearm.At the time, a jail sentence for robbery, even one in which someone had been coshed – as happened to the train driver, Jack Mills – was about 10 years or so. Suddenly the tariff was trebled, one of the reasons why our jails are now bulging while less punitive countries, like Sweden, are closing theirs. It was also a time before robbers were routinely armed. One of the unintended consequences of the long sentences was that robbers soon realised that there was little difference in the terms they could expect for carrying a firearm.
As for behaviour inspired by "vast greed", well, London, which was home to most of the train robbers, now has a mayor who sees vast greed as a civic duty.As for behaviour inspired by "vast greed", well, London, which was home to most of the train robbers, now has a mayor who sees vast greed as a civic duty.
How many of our current crimes will be remembered in 50 years? There have been many bigger thefts since that event in 1963. But hands up who can name a single person involved in the £53m robbery from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006. No? Yet many people not even born 50 years ago are familiar with the names of Bruce Reynolds, Ronnie Biggs, Buster Edwards and the detectives, Tommy Butler and Jack Slipper, who successfully tracked them – well, most of them – down. The robbery remains, like the Profumo affair, also now being dusted off after half a century, a tale of our times.How many of our current crimes will be remembered in 50 years? There have been many bigger thefts since that event in 1963. But hands up who can name a single person involved in the £53m robbery from a Securitas depot in Tonbridge, Kent, in 2006. No? Yet many people not even born 50 years ago are familiar with the names of Bruce Reynolds, Ronnie Biggs, Buster Edwards and the detectives, Tommy Butler and Jack Slipper, who successfully tracked them – well, most of them – down. The robbery remains, like the Profumo affair, also now being dusted off after half a century, a tale of our times.
There will be the inevitable attacks on the battered BBC, questioning why the robbers should be humanised and whether licence payers' money should be used to recreate a crime. To which the BBC should respond by sending critics a copy of Robert Browning's poem, Bishop Blougram's Apology, having underlined the words – "our interest's on the dangerous edge of things. The honest thief, the tender murderer, the superstitious atheist".There will be the inevitable attacks on the battered BBC, questioning why the robbers should be humanised and whether licence payers' money should be used to recreate a crime. To which the BBC should respond by sending critics a copy of Robert Browning's poem, Bishop Blougram's Apology, having underlined the words – "our interest's on the dangerous edge of things. The honest thief, the tender murderer, the superstitious atheist".
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