Ronald Biggs Biography Quotes 13 Report mistakes

Early Life and Path to Crime
Ronald Arthur Biggs was born on 8 August 1929 in south London and came of age during and just after the Second World War. Like many young men from working-class neighborhoods, he moved quickly into casual labor and then into petty crime. Early stints in prison exposed him to older, more experienced offenders and drew him into networks of professional burglars. By the late 1950s and early 1960s he was known on the fringes of London's criminal world, a small player who could be called on for practical jobs rather than for leadership.

The Great Train Robbery, 1963
Biggs's name became indelibly linked with the Great Train Robbery, the audacious theft from the Glasgow, London Royal Mail train in the early hours of 8 August 1963. More than two dozen conspirators were involved in varying degrees, and the haul exceeded two and a half million pounds, a staggering sum for the time. The gang, organized around figures such as Bruce Reynolds, Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Roy James, and others, halted the train near Bridego Bridge in Buckinghamshire and moved the high-value mailbags to waiting vehicles before decamping to a rented farm hideout. The robbery turned violent when the driver, Jack Mills, was struck and injured, a detail that later weighed heavily in public debate and in the sentences imposed. Biggs's own role was secondary within the group, but his presence cemented his place in the most famous British heist of the era.

Arrest, Trial, and a Dramatic Escape
Police pressure, led by determined investigators including senior officers in the Flying Squad and the notorious robber-hunter Tommy Butler, produced arrests across the network. Biggs was apprehended, tried with several associates at Aylesbury, and in 1964 received a 30-year sentence. Less than two years into his term at Wandsworth Prison he made the move that transformed him from convicted robber into international fugitive. With outside help and precise timing, he scaled the wall using a rope ladder and dropped into a waiting vehicle, vanishing into an underworld pipeline of false identities, safe flats, and criminal supporters.

Flight through Europe and Australia
Biggs's first stop was Paris, where he obtained new documents and reportedly underwent cosmetic procedures to alter his appearance. He then slipped out of Europe and resurfaced in Australia, living quietly in Melbourne under an alias and working with his hands, the kind of practical job he had known before the heist. For a time he was joined by his wife, Charmian, and their family, but the strain of life underground proved immense. Rumors, sightings, and investigative leads began to accumulate, and by 1970 the risk of discovery prompted him to move again.

Rio de Janeiro and the Making of a Notoriety
Biggs arrived in Rio de Janeiro in 1970, a city whose laws and bureaucracy offered a better prospect for evading extradition than most. There he formed a relationship with a Brazilian woman, Raimunda de Castro, and became the father of a Brazilian-born son, Michael. Brazilian constitutional protections for parents of Brazilian citizens became central to Biggs's legal defense. His case drew the attention of the British police, notably Detective Chief Superintendent Jack Slipper, who traveled to Brazil to seek his return. But the courts in Brazil rejected extradition requests, and Biggs slipped into a paradoxical existence: a fugitive who could not safely leave Brazil, yet who was increasingly public.

Confrontations with the Law
Fame brought complications. In 1974, the formal legal route to bring him home faltered when Brazil's judicial authorities ruled against extradition. In 1981, Biggs was kidnapped by a group of bounty hunters and transported by boat to Barbados, where they hoped he would be handed over to British authorities. Instead, the courts in Barbados ruled that he had been unlawfully brought to their jurisdiction and returned him to Brazil. Throughout these confrontations, Biggs practised a survival strategy that combined legal maneuvering, careful public relations, and reliance on friends and sympathizers who helped him navigate the hazards of notoriety.

Media Appearances and Pop-Culture Status
From his base in Rio, Biggs leaned into the unlikely celebrity that his situation created. Tourists sought him out for souvenirs and stories; newspapers and television crews used him as shorthand for the glamour and alleged daring of the 1960s criminal underworld. Musicians, most famously members of the Sex Pistols, recorded with him, exploiting his outsider image while allowing him to present himself as more rogue than felon. The paradox of Biggs's appeal was evident: he had been part of a crime remembered for its audacity, yet the violence inflicted on Jack Mills and the upheaval visited on many lives complicated any attempt to recast him as harmless. Still, the mythos around the Great Train Robbery proved resilient, and Biggs ably inhabited that public role.

Family, Loss, and the Personal Cost
While his public profile was flamboyant, the private costs were severe. The pressure of life on the run strained and ultimately broke his marriage with Charmian, who faced the challenges of raising children amid instability and scrutiny. Tragedy also struck when one of his sons from his marriage died in a car accident in Australia, a blow that underscored the collateral damage inflicted by his choices. In Brazil, his son Michael became both a symbol and a legal shield, entwining family life with the ongoing judicial drama. Through years of headlines, Biggs relied on a small circle of supporters, lovers, and lawyers, even as former associates such as Bruce Reynolds moved in and out of the public eye, and others from the robbery faced capture, retrial, or, in some cases, violent ends.

Return, Imprisonment, and Final Years
By the late 1990s and early 2000s Biggs's health declined, with strokes and chronic illness limiting his mobility and speech. In 2001 he announced that he would return voluntarily to the United Kingdom, a decision he framed as an acknowledgment of age and infirmity. Upon arrival he was arrested and returned to prison to serve the remainder of his sentence. The man who had once eluded the law across continents now occupied a hospital wing and moved through the penal system in failing health. Public debate flared again over whether compassion should temper justice in his case. In 2009, with his condition deteriorating, he was released on compassionate grounds. He died in London on 18 December 2013, aged 84.

Assessment and Legacy
Ronald Biggs became a symbol whose meaning depended on the observer. To some, he embodied a romanticized outlaw tradition, the comic-book caper of a bygone decade. To others, he was a criminal who participated in a crime that left real injuries and profound disruption, and who spent decades evading accountability. The people around him shaped both versions: Bruce Reynolds and the robbery's core planners gave the tale its daring; investigators like Tommy Butler and Jack Slipper supplied a relentless counterpoint; Jack Mills's suffering stood as a stark reminder of the robbery's violence; Charmian and her children bore the family's burden; Raimunda and Michael anchored his Brazilian period and his legal survival.

In life and in memory, Biggs occupied the uneasy boundary where crime, celebrity, and media spectacle meet. His biography shows how a supporting player in a single, infamous crime could, through escape, exile, and self-presentation, become one of the most recognizable British fugitives of the twentieth century. It also illustrates the long shadows cast by such notoriety: on victims, on family, and on the public imagination.

Our collection contains 13 quotes who is written by Ronald, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Justice - Funny - Writing - Dark Humor.

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