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| Ronnie Biggs, Buckingham Constabulary, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons |
As noted elsewhere, on August 8, 1963, a gang stopped the Glasgow-to-London overnight mail train at a manipulated signal near Cheddington and moved it to Bridego Bridge, where £2.6m in banknotes was stolen. On August 13 police receive a tip off and raided Leatherslade Farm, the gang's nearby hideout, recovering fingerprints and vital evidence.
Most of the gang were soon captured and on January 20, 1964, their trial began at Aylesbury Crown Court. On April 8 the gang received heavy sentences totalling over 300 years, mostly ranging from 24 to 30 years.
The judge at Buckinghamshire Assizes in Aylesbury, Mr Justice Edmund Davies, said it would be "positively evil" if he showed leniency.
The robbery was the biggest-ever carried out in Britain.
The scale and style of the theft led to comparisons with rail robberies of the Wild West and the hunt for the perpetrators captured the public imagination.
But the judge said the robbers' crime had in no way been "romantic" and was obviously motivated by greed.
The attack on train driver Jack Mills was proof of their violent tendencies, he added.
"Anybody who has seen that nerve-shattered engine driver can have no doubt of the terrifying effect on law-abiding citizens of a concerted assault by armed robbers," the judge said.
Seven of the defendants - Ronald Biggs, Charles Wilson, Douglas Goody, Thomas Wisbey, Robert Welch, James Hussey and Roy James - were jailed for 30 years each.
Four were sent to prison for terms of between 20 and 25 years.
Another defendant, solicitor John Wheater, 41, was sent to prison for three years.
Wheater obtained the robbers hide-out - Leatherslade Farm in Bedfordshire.
Judge Davies said Wheater had no knowledge of the robbery until after it had been committed but should then have informed the police.
"I realise the consequences of your conviction are disastrous, professionally and personally," the judge told Wheater.
Three men involved in the robbery remained at large by this time, including the man said to be the ringleader, Bruce Reynolds.
