Charlie Wilson (criminal)

Charles Frederick "Charlie" Wilson (30 June 1932 – 23 April 1990), was an English career criminal. A member of the Great Train Robbery gang, of which he was treasurer, he was killed by a hitman on a bicycle in 1990 whilst living in Marbella, Spain.

Wilson was born on 30 June 1932 to Bill and Mabel Wilson in Battersea, London. Possessing a heavy build, a handsome appearance and piercing blue eyes, Wilson was, from an early age, an intimidating presence. His friends from childhood included Jimmy Hussey, Tommy Wisbey, Bruce Reynolds and Gordon Goody. Later on, he met Ronald "Buster" Edwards and the young driving enthusiasts Mickey Ball and Roy James, who had taken up car theft.

From 1948 to 1950 he was called up for National Service, and in 1955 he married Patricia (Pat) Osbourne, with whom he had three children.

Wilson turned to crime early in life and spurned his father's legitimate but low-income wage. While he did have legitimate work in his in-laws' grocer's shop, he also was a thief and his criminal proceeds went into buying shares in various gambling enterprises. He went to jail for short spells for numerous offences.

In 1960, Wilson began to work with Bruce Reynolds and planned to get into the criminal big league. In 1962, a gang led by Reynolds stole £62,000 in a security van robbery at London Heathrow Airport. They then attempted to rob a Royal Mail train at Swindon, which netted only £700. But Reynolds, now looking for his career-criminal defining moment, started planning his next train robbery over a period of three months.

Reynolds organised a gang of 17 men to undertake the 1963 Great Train Robbery. Wilson was the gang's treasurer who gave each of the robbers their cut of the haul: £150,000 each. He was captured quickly, and during the trial at Aylesbury Crown Court in April 1964 he got the nickname "the silent man" as he refused to say anything at all. Sentenced to 30 years, he was held at HMP Winson Green, where after just four months on 12 August 1964, he arranged for a three-man gang to break-in and break him out.

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