Ronnie Biggs
British criminal who helped plan the 1963 Great Train Robbery.
Ronald Arthur Biggs (8 August 1929 – 18 December 2013) was a British criminal known for his role in planning and executing the 1963 Great Train Robbery. He gained widespread notoriety after escaping prison in 1965, spending 36 years on the run, and engaging in various publicity stunts while abroad. He returned to the UK in 2001, was imprisoned again, and saw his health worsen quickly. He was freed on compassionate grounds in August 2009 and passed away in a care home in December 2013.
Born in Stockwell, London, on 8 August 1929, Biggs was evacuated during World War II to Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and later to Delabole, Cornwall. At 18, he joined the Royal Air Force but was dishonourably discharged two years later for desertion after breaking into a chemist shop. A month after that, he was convicted of stealing a car and sent to prison. Upon release, he tried to rob a bookmaker’s office in Lambeth, London, but failed. While incarcerated at HM Prison Wandsworth, he met Bruce Reynolds.
After his third prison term, Biggs attempted to go straight and trained as a carpenter. In February 1960, he married 21-year-old Charmian Brent Powell in Swanage; they later had three sons together.
In 1963, needing money for a house deposit, Biggs happened to be working on the home of a retiring train driver—variously called "Stan Agate," "Old Pete," or "Pop." The driver’s real name remains unknown, as he was never caught. Biggs introduced him to the robbery plot, which involved Reynolds. Biggs was tasked with arranging for Agate to move the Royal Mail train after it was stopped.
On the night of the heist, Biggs told his wife he was going logging with Reynolds in Wiltshire. The gang halted the mail train in the early hours of 8 August 1963—Biggs’s 34th birthday. Agate couldn’t operate the main line diesel-electric locomotive, having only driven shunting engines on the Southern Region, so the train’s driver, Jack Mills, was struck with an iron bar and forced to move the engine and mail cars to a bridge chosen for unloading. Biggs’s main job was to get Agate to move the train; when that failed, both were sent to a waiting vehicle while the train was looted.
The gang unloaded 120 of 128 mailbags within Reynolds’s time limit and returned to Leatherslade Farm. The robbery netted £2.6 million; Biggs’s share was £147,000. Because police were closing in, Biggs went home the following Friday with his cash in two canvas bags. An accomplice failed to burn down the farm, and Biggs’s fingerprints were found on a tomato sauce bottle. Three weeks later, he was arrested in South London with 11 other gang members. In 1964, nine of the 15-strong gang, including Biggs, were sentenced to 30 years each.
Biggs served 15 months before escaping Wandsworth Prison on 8 July 1965, scaling the wall with a rope ladder and dropping into a waiting removal van. He fled to Brussels by boat, then sent a note for his wife to join him in Paris, where he had new identity papers and underwent plastic surgery. While Biggs was in prison, Charmian had begun an affair and was pregnant. She chose to support him, had an illegal abortion in London, and travelled with their two sons to Paris.
In 1966, Biggs fled to Sydney, then moved to Glenelg, Adelaide. By then, the family had spent all but £7,000 of his robbery share: £40,000 on plastic surgery in Paris, £55,000 on a package to leave the UK for Australia, and the rest on legal fees and expenses. In 1967, after their third child was born, Biggs received an anonymous letter warning that Interpol suspected he was in Australia. The family moved to Melbourne, where he rented a house in Blackburn North while his wife and sons lived in Doncaster East. He worked various jobs, including set construction at GTV Channel 9. In October 1969, a Reuters report revealed his location, and police were said to be closing in. The story led Channel 9’s evening news, and Biggs fled, staying with friends in the outer eastern suburbs. Five months later, he left Melbourne by passenger liner using a friend’s altered passport; his wife and sons stayed behind. The ship docked in Panama twenty days later, and within two weeks Biggs had flown to Brazil.
After it emerged that Biggs had fathered a child in Brazil, Charmian agreed to a divorce in 1974, finalized in 1976. Allowed to remain in Australia, she reverted to her maiden name, Brent, and sold her story for £40,000 to an Australian media group to buy the rented home.
- born
- 8 August 1929, Stockwell, London
- died
- 18 December 2013, nursing home
- field
- Criminal
- nationality
- British
- known_for
- Great Train Robbery (1963), prison escape (1965), 36 years as a fugitive
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Lore & Background
Ronald Arthur Biggs was born in Stockwell, London, on 8 August 1929. During the Second World War, he was evacuated to Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and then Delabole, Cornwall. At age 18 in 1947, he enlisted in the Royal Air Force but was dishonourably discharged for desertion two years later after breaking into a local chemist shop. One month after that, he was convicted of stealing a car and sentenced to prison. On release, he took part in a failed robbery attempt of a bookmaker's office in Lambeth, London. During his incarceration in HM Prison Wandsworth, he met Bruce Reynolds. After his third prison sentence, Biggs tried to go straight and trained as a carpenter. In February 1960, he married 21-year-old Charmian (Brent) Powell in Swanage; they had three sons together. In 1963, needing money for a house deposit, Biggs happened to be working on the house of a train driver who was about to retire—variously identified as 'Stan Agate', 'Old Pete', or 'Pop'. Biggs introduced the driver to the train robbery plot involving Reynolds. On the night of 8 August 1963—Biggs's 34th birthday—the gang stopped a Royal Mail train. The recruited driver could not operate the main line diesel-electric locomotive, so the train's actual driver, Jack Mills, was coshed with an iron bar and forced to move the engine and mail carriages. Biggs's fingerprints were later found on a tomato sauce bottle at the gang's hideout, Leatherslade Farm, leading to his arrest three weeks later. In 1964, nine of the 15-strong gang, including Biggs, were jailed; most received 30-year sentences. Biggs served 15 months before escaping from Wandsworth Prison on 8 July 1965, scaling the wall with a rope ladder and dropping onto a waiting removal van. He fled to Brussels by boat, then to Paris where he acquired new identity papers and underwent plastic surgery. In 1966, he fled to Sydney, then to Glenelg in Adelaide, South Australia. By then, he had spent all but £7,000 of his £147,000 share: £40,000 on plastic surgery, £55,000 as a package deal to get out of the UK, and the rest on legal fees and expenses. In 1967, after an anonymous letter warned that Interpol suspected he was in Australia, the family moved to Melbourne. Biggs worked set construction at GTV Channel 9 Television City studios. In October 1969, a Reuters report revealed he was in Melbourne; he fled five months later by passenger liner from the Port of Melbourne, using an altered passport. Twenty days later the ship berthed in Panama; within two weeks he flew to Brazil. In Brazil, Biggs could not be extradited because his girlfriend, nightclub dancer Raimunda de Castro, was pregnant—Brazilian law did not allow extradition of a parent of a Brazilian child. In 1974, Daily Express reporters confirmed he was in Rio de Janeiro. Biggs recorded vocals on two songs for the Sex Pistols film 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle' (1980): 'No One is Innocent' and 'Belsen Was a Gas'. 'No One is Innocent' reached number 7 in the UK singles chart in 1978. To provide income, Biggs hosted barbecues at his home where tourists could meet him. In March 1981, he was kidnapped by a gang of British ex-soldiers, but the boat suffered mechanical problems off Barbados; the stranded group was rescued by the Barbados coastguard, and Biggs was sent back to Brazil when no valid extradition treaty was found.
Reader's Guide
Ronnie Biggs's significance lies in his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, which yielded £2.6 million (equivalent to about £47.5 million in 2025); Biggs's share was £147,000 (equivalent to £2,700,000 in 2025). His escape from Wandsworth Prison on 8 July 1965 and 36 years as a fugitive turned him into a folk anti-hero, though his actual role in the robbery was minor—his main task had been to get the recruited driver to move the train, and when that failed, he was banished to a waiting vehicle while the train was looted. The case highlighted issues of extradition, as Brazil had no extradition treaty with the UK, and later Barbados was found to have no valid extradition treaty either. Biggs's later years included his return to the UK in 2001, several years in prison where his health rapidly declined, and release on compassionate grounds in August 2009. He died in a nursing home in December 2013. His story has been the subject of documentaries and dramatizations, including the 2012 ITV docu-drama 'Mrs Biggs', for which his ex-wife Charmian served as a consultant.
Did You Know?
- Biggs's fingerprints were found on a tomato sauce bottle at the gang's hideout, leading to his arrest three weeks after the robbery.
- He escaped from Wandsworth Prison on 8 July 1965 by scaling the wall with a rope ladder and dropping onto a waiting removal van.
- Biggs recorded vocals on two songs for the Sex Pistols film 'The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle'; 'No One is Innocent' reached number 7 in the UK singles chart in 1978.
- In March 1981, Biggs was kidnapped by a gang of British ex-soldiers, but the boat suffered mechanical problems off Barbados and he was sent back to Brazil.
- Biggs's ex-wife Charmian served as a consultant on the 2012 ITV docu-drama 'Mrs Biggs', which recounts their time together.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Ronnie Biggs?
Ronald Arthur Biggs was a British criminal born in Stockwell, London, in 1929, who became infamous for his part in the 1963 Great Train Robbery and his decades-long flight from British justice.
What was Ronnie Biggs's role in the Great Train Robbery?
Biggs helped plan and execute the 1963 Great Train Robbery, one of the most notorious cash heists in British criminal history, which earned him a prison sentence and lasting public notoriety.
How did Ronnie Biggs escape from prison?
In 1965, Biggs fled his place of incarceration and went into exile abroad, where he spent 36 years as a fugitive while occasionally staging publicity stunts to keep his name in the headlines.
When and why did Ronnie Biggs return to the UK?
After nearly four decades on the run, Biggs voluntarily surrendered to British authorities in 2001, served several years in prison, and was ultimately released on compassionate grounds in 2009.
How did Ronnie Biggs's life end?
Biggs died on 18 December 2013 in a nursing home at the age of 84, more than a year after his release on compassionate grounds.
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