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The son of one of Britain’s most notorious criminals has spoken out about his relationship with his father.
It must be quite something to discover that your father is involved in some sort of criminal activity. However, it would be something entirely different if he were, say, involved in one of the most infamous crimes in British history.
But for Nick Reynolds, this was the reality. Lying on a sun lounger in Mexico in 1966 with his dad, Bruce Reynolds, had no idea of the extent of his own father’s involvement in an historic crime which made their luxurious life possible.
Nick had believed that the years spent travelling around were just one big adventure. He had even believed that it was because his dad was some sort of spy like James Bond.
The reality was very different, as his father was behind a huge crime in Britain. Not just any crime either, but the Great Train Robbery.
This took place in 1963, when Nick was just 18 months old, and saw £2.61 million stolen from a Royal Mail train by a gang who managed to get the train to stop before making off with the money without even using any firearms.
Bruce Reynolds had masterminded the operation, but despite the gang actually managing to escape with their ill-gotten gains, they were eventually caught.
Nick recently told of how he had still maintained a relationship with his dad even after he was caught.
He told The Mirror: “I used to go and see my dad in prison. He’d send me these amazing letters which was a way of keeping this amazing bond that we had.
“We were so close because I had seen more of him in those years on the run than most kids get to spend with their dad up to their teens.”
What was extraordinary was the sense of calm that he had always picked up from his dad, despite the fact that he was on the run from the authorities.
He added: “I never picked up any vibes of stress or panic. But now I realise he was looking over his shoulder and was on high alert for any indication his identity might have been tumbled.
“But I never picked up on that. For the five years we were on the run it was like a long holiday.”
Nick revealed that he had created the story in his head that his father was a spy as a way to ‘make sense’ of their lifestyle hopping around.
In the end, Bruce was caught and sentenced to 25 years in prison for his part in the infamous robbery.
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