Catholic Church benefitted from Great Train Robbery loot

One of the beneficiaries of the infamous Great Train Robbery in England probably left a small fortune to the Catholic Church when he died.

A documentary due to be released in the United Kingdom in October will reveal the identity of the mysterious “Ulsterman”, who tipped off the robbers as to which train to target in 1963.

The film-makers claim the Church donation was made by a god-fearing Post Office worker, who was a key player in the 1963 robbery of £2.6m from Royal Mail.

It claims the devout, church-going Ulsterman died without his identity ever being revealed, the Guardian reported.

In the film, A Tale of Two Thieves, the train robber, Gordon Goody, now 84 and living in Spain with his Spanish partner, identifies the Ulsterman as a Post Office worker based in Manchester who told him and the late Buster Edwards which train to rob.

Goody describes how the three men met in north London, and received the inside information that helped them carry out the robbery.

The Ulsterman attended church every week and the film-makers and Goody have come to the conclusion that his share of about £135,000 was probably given to Catholic Church charities.

The Ulsterman retired in 1974 and left no will.

Goody claims that he only found out the Ulsterman’s real name when he saw it inside his spectacles case.

He said: “My instinct is that his money went to the Church.”

Goody, who is not well and uses an oxygen tank, said he is identifying the inside man now, after so many years, because he is “getting near the time when the shop is going to close”.

The gang which undertook the Great Train Robbery took £2.6m from the Glasgow to London mail train on August 8, 1963.

This was the equivalent of £40m in today’s money.

Train driver Jack Mills was struck over the head during the robbery and never worked again. He died in 1970.

The most infamous of the Great Train Robbers, Ronnie Biggs, died last year.

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News category: World.

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