We were tracking down the Nottinghamshire Outlaw and expert archer in last week's Sunday Snap. I asked who the legendary character is and the answer is
Robin Hood
Scoring a bullseye with the right answer were Susan, Anne, Cheryl, Kara and Gentle Joy.
For this week's Sunday Snap we're turning to crime and justice. This is the court room of the Shire Hall in Nottingham. Until 1986 this served as the criminal court for Nottingham when it was replaced by the more modern Nottingham Crown Court. It is now open to visitors as part of the National Justice Museum. Over the years it seen many cases but one of the most famous to stand in the dock was Ronald Edwards better known as Buster.
In 1961 Edwards was part of a gang that stole £62,000 (around £1.19 million today) from the headquarters of British Overseas Airways Corporation. Some of the gang were arrested but Edwards got away. Not content with the spoils of one theft the gang that got away recruited other members and started planning the most well known theft of all time.
Early in the morning of Thursday 8th August 1963 a Royal Mail train was on its journey between Glasgow and London Euston. One of the carriages was a HVP (High Value Packages) coach and carried large quantities of money and registered mail. Usually the value contained in this coach would be around £300,000 but since the previous weekend was a Bank Holiday it carried the unusually high amount of between £2.5 and £3 million (near to £50 million today). The gang had already tampered with the signal and were able to stop the train. Both the driver and his assistant were attacked and the gang removed all but eight of the 128 sacks from the HVP carriage. The gang made their way to an old farmhouse and spent their time playing Monopoly with the some of the real money they had stolen. After they departed a nearby resident reported their suspicious activities to the police. They took fingerprints from the Monopoly board and this lead to the offenders being identified.
Edwards took his proceeds and his family to Mexico before the police could arrest him. After three years having spent most of his money and his wife being homesick he came back to England in 1966. He was put on trial at the Shire Hall, convicted and sentenced to 15 years. He was released early after serving 9 years and ran a flower stall outside of Waterloo Station. His story was immortalised in the 1988 film Buster staring Phil Collins in the lead role. He died in 1994 after his brother found him hanging in a lock-up garage. This week's question is
What was the crime that Buster Edwards was convicted of known as?
We were joined last week by Susan with some cloud chasing and end of season football. At Weymouth Anne was enjoying the Punch and Judy show. On the ropes and bouncing on the trampolines were the Madhouse family. Kara has been enjoying a family birthday and visiting churches. Finally, Gentle Joy has been following the life span of cardinal birds from egg to flying the nest.
If you want to join in with this week's Sunday Snap then add your link to the linky below. Any theme is allowed. It doesn't have to be published today as you have until 23.55 on Friday 23rd June 2017 to join in. Grab my badge below for your blog post. Just make sure it is your photo and you hold the copyright for it.
If you use Twitter, Facebook, Instagram or Google+ please tag me and I will retweet, Like, Share or +1 as appropriate. You can find me here:
Twitter: @jibberjabberuk please use the hashtag #SundaySnap
Facebook: Jibberjabberuk
Instagram: jibberjabberuk
Google+:Jibber JabberUK
The great train robbery? I remember watching the film when it came out as my mum was a big Phil Collins fan x
ReplyDeleteThe Great Train Robbery :)
ReplyDeleteThe Great Train Robbery, it's an amazing story.
ReplyDeleteThe Great Train Robber!
ReplyDelete