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Bruce Reynolds

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Outlaw

The Resume

    (September 7, 1931-February 28, 2013)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    Masterminded the Great Train Robbery (August 8, 1963)
    Robbery netted £2,631,684 (equal to £41 million in 2013 money)
    Spent five years on the run, mainly in Mexico and Canada
    Returned to England and was arrested (1968)
    Served 10 years in prison for the robbery (1969-78)
    Wrote 'The Autobiography of a Thief' (1995)

Why he might be annoying:

    As a teen, he was part of a street gang that robbed homes and fenced stolen goods.
    During the Great Train Robbery, driver Jack Mills was struck over the head with an iron bar; Mills never returned to work and never fully recovered.
    He felt disappointed after the robbery: 'Even the sight of £2,600,000 didn't relieve me of the sense of anticlimax.'
    He returned to England because his share of the loot had run out and he heard of a chance to participate in another large robbery.
    After his parole, he complained that he was unable to get work because 'As a Great Train Robber, you are too hot for both the lawless and the lawful.'
    He must have found some lawless people who didn't consider him too hot: he went back to jail for three years for dealing in amphetamines.
    In his last years, he lived on Income Support from the British government.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was known as the Napoleon of British crime.
    The son of fellow Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs said, 'He was very old school. He was totally against violence and deeply upset about what happened [to Jack Mills].'
    He agreed to enter a guilty plea on the robbery charges in return for aiding and abetting charges not being filed against members of his family.
    His memoirs have been praised as one of the 'most enlightening' true crime books.
    His son Nick is a member of Alabama 3 and he appeared on the band's cover of the song 'Have You Seen Bruce Richard Reynolds.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 2 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 30 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 7 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 10 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 79 Votes: 60.76% Annoying