The Great Train Robbery

The Great Train
Robbery
What are we doing?
 What’s in The Bag (Hunting for Clues)
 Detective & Crime Scene Investigators
 Role of the CSI
 Relay Game
 Great Train Robbery Story
 Looking at the Map of Where it all took place
 Fingerprinting
 Great Train Robbery Quiz
 Foot printing
 Monopoly
The Robbery ....
• Took place on 8th August 1963
• £2.6M was stolen (worth £40 million today)
• Gang of 15 robbers from London led by
Bruce Reynolds, Ronnie Biggs and Ronald
‘Buster’ Edwards.
The money was destined
to be incinerated
Robbery Site
Train moved
to here
The Driver & the signal trick
The Signals
• Equipment was tampered
with.
• A glove was put over the
green signal light
• A 6v Ever Ready Battery was
connected to temporarily
power the RED light
Transferring the money
The Gang could not move the
train!
• 124 sacks of money were
loaded onto 2 Land
Rovers, which both had
the same number plate!
• The gang fled after 30
minutes.
The Money
The Robbers hid in a Farm
House 27 miles away
• They played Monopoly with
the stolen £1,£5 & £10
notes
• The farmhouse was
deserted when the police
arrived but they found
fingerprints on a ketchup
bottle and Monopoly
board....
Back then a pound was a note
Slip of the tongue!
• One member of the gang had
made the mistake of telling the
postal staff on the train not to
move for half an hour........
• This suggested to the police that
their hideout could not be more
than 35 miles away.
Capture!
• Eventually one by one the robbers
were caught.
• Through carelessness and tip offs
they were arrested and held at
Aylesbury prison.
There are 3 Suspects.......!
Buster Edwards
There are 3 Suspects.......!
Bruce Reynolds
There are 3 Suspects.......!
Ronnie Biggs
Arches
Plain Arch
Loops
Tented Arch
Ulnar Loop
Radial Loop
Whorls
Plain Whorl
Double Loop
Central Pocket
Accidental
........ON THE RUN!
• The trial lasted 51 days
• Sentences given were 30 Years in
prison (total of over 300 years for
the whole gang)
• Ronnie Biggs escaped from prison
15 months into his sentence, with a
considerable amount of the money.
........ON THE RUN!
• Biggs fled to Paris, where he acquired new
identity papers and underwent plastic surgery.
• In 1970, he quietly moved to Adelaide,
Australia, where he worked as a builder and
lived a relatively normal life.
........ON THE RUN!
• He was tipped off by persons unknown and
moved to Melbourne, later escaping to Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.
• Biggs could not be returned to the UK because
the two countries didn’t agree that he could
be returned.
........ON THE RUN!
• Additionally, he became father to a
Brazilian son, which afforded him
greater legal immunity (which a
daughter would not have
conferred).
• As a result he lived openly in Rio
for many years, untouchable by
British authorities.
........ON THE RUN!
• In May 2001, aged 71 and having
suffered three heart attacks, he
voluntarily returned to England.
• Biggs’ stated desire was to "walk
into a Margate pub as an
Englishman and buy a pint of
bitter”.
........ON THE RUN!
• After detention and a short court hearing he
was sent back to prison to serve the
remainder of his sentence
• However, on 6 August 2009, Ronnie Biggs was
granted release from prison on
‘compassionate grounds.’ He is still alive!
A change in the law
• As a result of this robbery, the
British Railways rule book was
changed.
• If stopped by a red signal, drivers
had previously been required to
contact the signaller by telephone,
which required them to leave the
driving cab.
A change in the law
• Drivers of mail trains were now
always to keep their cab doors
locked.
• These rules remained in force until
the retirement of mail trains in the
UK, but since the return of mail
trains to Britain, the current
procedure is unknown.
Great Train Robbery Quiz
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 1
Which month did the robbery take place in:
a) March
b) June
c) August?
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 2
Which one of these was NOT a robber:
a) Buster Keaton
b) Ronnie Biggs
c) Charlie Wilson?
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 3
Name the three types of fingerprint.
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 4
Where were the robbers fingerprints found in
the safe house?
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 5
How much money was on the train?
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 6
What was put over the green signal light to
confuse the driver?
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 7
What year was Ronnie Biggs released from
prison?
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 1
Which month did the robbery take place in:
a) March
b) June
c) August?
Answer: August
(1 mark)
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 2
Which one of these was NOT a robber:
a) Buster Keaton
b) Ronnie Biggs
c) Charlie Wilson?
Answer: Buster Keaton
(1 mark)
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 3
Name the three types of fingerprint.
Answer: Loop, Arch, Whorl (3 marks)
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 4
Where were the robbers fingerprints found in
the safe house? Can you name both items?
Answer: Ketchup bottle/Monopoly board
(2 marks)
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 5
How much money was on the train?
Answer: 2.6 million (or 40 million today)
(1 mark)
Bonus 1 mark if you wrote down both
amounts 
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 6
What was put over the green signal light to
confuse the driver?
Answer: A glove
(1 mark)
CSI-Great Train Robbery Quiz
Question 7
What year was Ronnie Biggs released from
prison?
Answer: 2009
(1 mark)