Former detective Graham Satchwell has claimed that the Kray twins acted as enforcers for the 1963 Great Train Robbery. In his new book, Great Train Robbery Confidential, Satchwell argues that Ronnie and Reggie Kray were instrumental in the planning and execution of the heist.
Satchwell told MailOnline that the Krays' involvement 'completes the picture' of how the audacious crime was pulled off. He said: 'The involvement of the Krays and [London gangster Billy] Hill solves that mystery. No one who knows about the robbery would conclude that any of the robbers arrested could have put the job together.'
The Krays were close associates of Billy Hill, whom Satchwell identifies as the mastermind behind the robbery, rather than Bruce Reynolds as previously thought. Satchwell cited evidence of collaboration between the Krays and Hill in Tangier, Morocco, in the 1950s, as well as business links.
During the heist, a gang stopped the Glasgow-Euston overnight mail train in Buckinghamshire, stealing £2,631,684 in used notes. Twelve men were later jailed for a total of more than 300 years. Satchwell noted that the Krays took 'mysterious' trips to Glasgow before the robbery and were friends with known robbers.
Ronnie Kray died in Broadmoor in 1995, and Reggie died in 2000 after being released on compassionate parole. The Krays ruled London's gangland in the 1950s and 1960s with their East End gang, 'The Firm'.
