The Great Train Robbery was once the biggest criminal theft Britain had ever seen with millions of pounds being stolen from a train carrying mail in 1963. One of the criminals involved, Ronnie Biggs, died at the age of 84 on Wednesday, Time magazine reported.
On Aug. 8 in 1963, a train going from Glasgow, Scotland, to London, England, was robbed by a criminal gang in Buckinghamshire in south east England. The gang escaped with 120 bags of cash, equalling $65 million in today's money, according to BBC.com.
The gang didn't get far and were arrested shortly after. Sentenced to 30 years in prison, Biggs was supposed to be locked away for a long time, but he escaped Wandsworth Prison in 1965 by climbing over the prison walls.
Biggs gained notoriety after he successfully ran from police for more than 30 years. Before landing in Brazil he lived in France and Australia.
Biggs was arrested once more in 1974 but because he had since conceived a son in Brazil, the country's law protected him from being sent back to Britain for trial.
"I don't regret the fact that I was involved in the train robbery. As a matter of fact I am quite pleased with the idea I was involved with it," Biggs once said in an interview, "It's given me a little place in history. I've made a mark for myself."
Later in 2001, due to health issues Biggs was experiencing, he flew back to his home in the United Kingdom to seek medical attention but was arrested upon his arrival and taken back to prison.
In 2009, he was granted release on "compassionate grounds" when his health got considerably worse. Biggs died in a nursing home in London early Wednesday morning after numerous strokes and other illnesses had already taken his ability to talk and walk, Time reported.
