Page 186 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

the media to comment on any news item connected with the robbery
before his death on 24 August 2005 at the age of 81.

After being refused parole by the Justice Secretary, Biggs was finally released
on compassionate grounds on 7 August 2009 and was transferred from prison
hospital to a care home. It was one day before Biggs’ 80th birthday and the
46th anniversary of the train robbery. Biggs, the last of the prosecuted robbers
to be released from prison, had served 3,875 days for his part in the Great
Train Robbery out of his sentence of 10,957 days.

On 17 November 2011, Biggs published his autobiography, Odd Man Out: The
Last Straw. Biggs maintained the book is the definitive and accurate story of
Biggs’ life and the part he played in the Great Train Robbery.

28 February 2013, Bruce Reynolds dies in his sleep at his home in Croydon.
Biggs, Welch and others attend the funeral.

18 December 2013, Ronald Arthur Biggs dies in his sleep in the early hours of
Wednesday, 18 December 2013 in Barnet General Hospital. He is 84.

3 January 2014 Biggs funeral takes place at the Golders Green Crematorium
on Friday, 3 January 2014. His ashes are spread in Britain, Brazil and Australia

Recovery of the money

£2,631,684 was stolen (although the police report says that £2,595,997 was
stolen). The bulk of the haul was in £1 notes and £5 notes (both the older
white note and the newer blue note which was half its size). The £5 notes
were bundled in batches of £2,500, the £1 notes in batches of £500. There
were also ten-shilling notes in batches of £250. A quantity of Irish and Scottish
money was also stolen. With the exception of a few 'drinks' for associates, the
loot was split into 17 equal shares of around £150,000 each.
With a few notable exceptions, the money was quickly laundered or divided
by friends, family and associates of the robbers. Much was laundered
through bookmakers (Wilson and Wisbey were themselves bookmakers)
although, astonishingly, only a few hundred pounds were identifiable by serial
number so the robbers could have spent the money without fear of being
traced. There were 1,579 notes whose serial numbers were known and the
rest of the money was completely untraceable.

The £5 notes were of two different types, because in 1957 the British
Government had begun to replace the large white notes with smaller blue
ones. The final changeover had not been completed by the time of the
robbery. The white notes quickly became far more conspicuous to use,
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making it harder for them to be spent.