Who was Ronnie Biggs?

RONNIE BIGGS is one of Britain's most famous criminals, having defied authorities for 35 years.

Here is the story of the Great Train Robber.

Who was Ronnie Biggs?

Ronald Biggs was born in Stockwell, South London, in 1929.

He was dishonourably discharged from the RAF in 1949 after carrying out a robbery on a local chemist.

Biggs carried out several robberies over the ensuing years before he was jailed.

Behind bars, he met future accomplice Bruce Reynolds.

In 1960, Biggs married Charmain Powell. The couple had three children together.

But just three years later, in 1963,  Biggs played a role in the most notorious robbery in British history.

Biggs - who pocketed almost £150,000 from the robbery - was jailed for 30 years in 1964 over the heist.

He escaped from Wandsworth Prison using a rope ladder one year later.

Using the majority of his haul on plastic surgery and his elaborate escape, Biggs ended up in Australia via France.

By 1967, Australian police were closing in on Biggs and he left his family behind on a boat bound for Panama.

From there he flew to Brazil.

In Rio de Janeiro, Biggs became a minor celebrity, revelling in his notoriety as he thumbed his nose at the British authorities.

At that point in time, the UK did not have an extradition agreement with Brazil.

A team of British ex-soldiers even attempted to kidnap Biggs and take him to Barbados in a bid to claim a reward fee.

But their boat broke down in the Caribbean Sea and Biggs was returned to Brazil.

He divorced his wife Chariman in 1974 and would later marry Brazilian Raimunda de Castro.

When did Ronnie Biggs return to the UK?

Wanting to return to the UK, Biggs eventually flew back in 2001 on a flight organised by The Sun.

He was re-imprisoned upon his return.

Biggs was eventually released in 2009 - two days short of his 80th birthday, after a series of strokes.

He had served ten out of his 30-year sentence.

Biggs died on December 18, 2013, at a North London care home aged 84.

What happened during the Great Train Robbery?

The robbery plan was hatched after a postal worker - nicknamed the Ulsterman - leaked details of a train journey carrying vast amounts of cash.

Underworld figures Gordon Goody and Buster Edwards based the heist on this information bringing in accomplices Reynolds, Biggs, Charlie Wilson and Roy James.

The men later brought in members of the South Coast Raiders - a gang experienced in rigging train signals in order to stop engines.

The train came to a stop at a red signal outside Leighton Buzzard, Buckinghamshire, in the early hours of August 8, 1963.

Soon realising there was a problem, train driver Jack Mills became embroiled in a tussle with one of the robbers, overpowering him before he was hit over the head with a cosh by another member of the gang.

Mills was then made to drive the train down the line to a designated spot where the sackfuls of money could be unloaded.

In total, 128 sacks - weighing 2.5 tons - were moved off the train and the gang fled the scene within 30 minutes.

The gang then drove to a farmyard barn where they began to distribute the money among themselves.

When were the Great Train Robbers caught?

The first robber captured was Roger Cordrey - just six days later.

Police steadily made a number of arrests throughout 1963, making their last one - Bruce Reynolds - in 1968.

The Ulsterman was one of two plotters never captured by police.

Ronnie Biggs would go on to become the most famous of the criminals after he escaped prison in 1965.

The crook went on the run for more than 35 years, first travelling to Australia and then building a life and raising a family in Brazil.

He eventually returned to the UK in 2001 and served a further eight years in prison before being released on compassionate grounds in 2009.

Eight of the robbers were sentenced to 30 years behind bars with another three given 25 years.

The identity of the man who hit Jack Mills was not established and the train driver never recovered fully from his injuries, dying in 1970.

The sole survivor of the raid is Bobby Welch.

How much did the gang steal?

The Great Train Robbers are estimated to have stolen more than £2.6million - around £46million today.

Most of the money was never recovered.

Their loot is believed to have been split into £150,000 shares, with smaller amounts for associates who played a lesser role in the heist.