The Crime of the Century

Artist impression of the heist.

In today's society when we hear the word heist we think of films like the Italian Job and Oceans 11, The Fast and Furious and video games like Grand Theft Auto.

 Old school Gangsters and big heist seem like a thing of the past. Something that only exists in movies and media today. But not too long a heist so successful and ambitious earned the reputation crime of the century and took place in England in 1963.

Once a household name in the UK, the late Bruce Reynolds a criminal mastermind conducted the crime of the century. Reynolds was a man straight out of good crime fiction book, a typical romanticised old-school criminal. He had a background in Journalism, science and the military. He was known to wear tailored suits, mingle in the finest circles, he drove an Aston Martin and had that gentlemanly charm and charisma. The bond of the criminal underworld.  

This was not enough for Reynolds and he decided to pursue a lucrative career in professional crime. A true expert in his craft he led 15 men in the hijacking of a Royal Mail train carrying a highly prized cargo of around 2.6 million pound Sterling[1]. That doesn’t sound all that impressive but if you were to compare the value of that amount then to today, the modern equivalent would be around £50 million.

The Heist Crew 

Reynolds et al learned that a train carrying high valued cargo make regular trips from Glasgow to London. His team, well put together consisted of an engineer to drive the train, an expert in rail signals and muscle to overpower and intimidate the rail staff. 

On August 8^th the team convinced the train to stop and from there overpowered the staff and beat the engineer into opening the cargo carriage. They stole one hundred and twenty-one bags pack with cash. Then made way to a farm where holed up and divided the share.[2]

On the surface, the robbery appeared as a victimless crime and went off without a hitch.However, neither were true. Only days after the robbery, Scotland Yard managed to discover their hideout on a farm and with solid forensics where able to identify the robbers. Most of the robbers were apprehended quickly and were sentenced to maximum sentences, some for 30 years.[3] 

Many deemed this extreme for the crime committed, but criminals of highly publicized crime like this will always be made an example off. A few of the criminals managed to escape to other countries, some undergoing surgery to conceal identity but ultimately the criminals involved were eventually charged and sentenced in the UK.

The old saying rings true, its only a crime if you get caught, or something like that.

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[1] The Great Train Robbery, 1963. Btp.Police.Uk, (2017)

http://www.btp.police.uk/about_us/our_history/crime_history/the_great_train_robbery,_1963.aspx.

(Last Assessed 23 Nov. 2017).

[2] ibid.

[3] Ibib.