The Sun pulled out all the stops to return the Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs to Britain after 35 years on the run.
A private jet to fly Biggs’s son, Nick, and fellow train robber Bruce Reynolds to Rio de Janeiro was chartered and editor David Yelland rang Foreign Secretary Robin Cook to secure an emergency, one-way passport.
The scoop was kept quiet even to the Sun’s own staff; photographer Harry Page only discovered he would be involved in bringing Biggs back to Britain when he arrived at the airport.
Biggs’s family and friends had contacted The Sun about returning him home after failing to gain MPs’ support for offering the Great Train Robber amnesty.
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