Real Crime Stories/Paranormal Hauntings/Conspiracy Theories Book II

The Great Train Robbery (Part IV)

The fate of the robbers

Following the deaths of Goody on 29 January 2016, and Tommy Wisbey on 30 December 2016, Bob Welch is the only remaining known member of the gang known still alive. In later years, the robbers generally came together only for the funerals of their fellow gang members. Wilson's funeral on 10 May 1990 was attended by Bruce Reynolds, who reported seeing Edwards, Roy James (who got into a verbal argument with the press), Welch (hobbling on crutches), and White (who went unnoticed due to his ability to blend into the background). At Edwards's funeral in 1994, Reynolds saw only Welch. (Hussey, Wisbey, and James were all in prison at the time.)

Brian Field

After being sentenced on 16 April 1964, Field served four years of his five-year sentence. He was released in 1967. While he was in prison, his wife Karin divorced him and married a German journalist. Karin wrote an article for the German magazine Stern. She confirmed that she took Roy James to Thame railway station so he could go to London and that she led a convoy of two vans back to her house, where the gang was joined by wives and girlfriends for a big party to celebrate the crime. When Reynolds returned to the UK in 1968, he tried to contact Field as this was the only way he could get in touch with the "Ulsterman". It seems that Field was ambushed upon his release from prison by a recently released convict, "Scotch Jack" Buggy, who presumably roughed up or even tortured Field with a view to extorting some of the loot from the robbery. Subsequently, Field went to ground, and Buggy was killed shortly after. Reynolds gave up trying to find Field.

Field changed his name to Brian Carlton to disappear. Sometime after his release from prison, he married Sian, from Wales. In the mid/late 1970s, they worked for the Children's Book Center(since sold) in Kensington High Street, London. Field and his wife Sian were responsible for the company's operations in central and southern Europe, where they shipped English language books and held book fairs at international English schools. Field, aged 44, and Sian, aged 28, died in a car crash on the M4 motorway on 27 April 1979, a year after the last of the robbers had completed their sentences. The accident occurred as they returned from a visit to Sian's parents in Wales. A Mercedes driven by Amber Bessone, the pregnant 28-year-old daughter of well-known hairdresser Raymond Bessone (Mr. Teasy Weasy) crossed a damaged section of the guard rail and slammed into Field's oncoming Porsche. The Fields, Amber, her husband, and two children were all killed instantly. It was several weeks after the accident that Field's true identity was discovered. It is not clear whether his wife Sian ever knew of his past.

Charlie Wilson

The last of the robbers released, (after serving about one-third of his sentence) Wilson returned to the life of crime and was found shot dead at his villa in Marbella, Spain, on 24 April 1990. His murder was thought to be related to suspected cheating in drug-dealing. He is buried in Streatham Cemetery.

Buster Edwards. After he was released, he became a flower seller outside Waterloo station. His story was dramatized in the 1988 film Buster, with Phil Collins in the title role. Edwards died in a garage in November 1994, allegedly committing suicide by hanging himself. His family continued to run the flower stall after his death.

Roy James. James went back to motor racing following his release on 15 August 1975. However, he crashed several cars and his chances of becoming a driver quickly faded. After the failure of his sporting career, he returned to his trade as a silversmith. He produced the trophy given to Formula One promoters each year thanks to his acquaintance with Bernie Ecclestone. In 1982, he married a younger woman, but the marriage soon broke down. By 1983, James and Charlie Wilson had become involved in an attempt to import gold without paying excise duty. James was acquitted in January 1984 for his part in the swindle. In 1993, he shot and wounded his father-in-law, pistol-whipped and partially strangled his ex-wife, after they had returned their children for a day's outing. He was sentenced to six years in jail. In 1996, James underwent triple-bypass surgery and was subsequently released from prison in 1997, only to die almost immediately afterward on 21 August after another heart attack. He was the fifth member of the gang to die, despite being the youngest.