Ronnie Biggs time from first meeting to Biggs's flight to Brazil. In 1970, when Biggs arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil did not have an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom. In 1971, Biggs's eldest son, Nicholas, aged 10, died in a car crash in Melbourne. In 1974, "Daily Express" reporter Colin MacKenzie received information suggesting that Biggs was in Rio de Janeiro; a team consisting of MacKenzie, photographer Bill Lovelace and reporter Michael O'Flaherty confirmed this and broke the story. Scotland Yard detective Jack Slipper arrived soon afterwards, but Biggs could not be extradited because his girlfriend, nightclub dancer Raimunda de
Ronnie Biggs London, on 8 August 1929. As a child during the Second World War, he was evacuated to Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and then Cornwall. In 1947, at age 18, Biggs enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He was dishonorably 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 his release, he took part in a failed robbery attempt of a bookmaker office in Lambeth, South London. During his incarceration in HMP Wandsworth, he met Bruce Reynolds. After his third prison sentence, Biggs