Unmasked: the two Great Train Robbers who were never caught
MORE than 50 years on from the “crime of the century”, the identities of two of the Great Train Robbers who escaped justice can be revealed for the first time.
One is the shadowy figure known as “the Ulsterman”, who was reputed to have provided the key information, and the other is one of the most experienced criminals on the team.
The pair have finally been unmasked after a former railway detective cracked some of the last remaining mysteries about the 1963 heist.
Sammy Osterman, a close friend of convicted train robber Tommy Wisbey, and Freddie Sansom, a notorious armed robber and uncle of former England footballer Kenny, got away, according to new evidence.
The revelations dismantle some of the myths surrounding the robbery and also help clear the name of an entirely blameless postal worker, who was wrongly implicated.
It was long been believed that planning for the robbery began when a Post Office insider tipped off criminal associates about the movement of cash on the railways in the early Sixties.
Known only as “the Ulsterman” by the other members, the tipster was never caught and was assumed to have escaped with his portion of the loot. But five years ago a documentary team named him as Patrick McKenna, a former postman from Salford.
His family were baffled by the revelation, pointing out that he had never been in trouble with the police, had lived in a council house all his life, had no knowledge of the railways and left just £3,000 when he died in 1992.
Now, former transport detective Graham Satchwell, 70, who has spent years investigating the robbery, claims to have evidence that proves McKenna’s innocence.
Mr Satchwell has instead identified underworld fixer Osterman as the mystery gang member, but believes his role in the robbery has been exaggerated. He is also, for the first time, naming armed robber Freddie Sansom as one member who evaded justice.
Sansom’s brothers George and Terry were on the Flying Squad’s list of suspects but were never charged.
Kenny Sansom, 60, the former defender who played 86 times for England, told The Telegraph: “The police investigated my father and uncle Terry, but I think they were looking at the wrong Sansom.”
Mr Satchwell worked closely with Wisbey and his findings will appear in a book, Great Train Robbery Confidential, which will be published on Oct 1.
The former detective said Wisbey hinted that Freddie Sansom was one of the those who had got away and had also cast doubt on the idea that McKenna had been involved.
“I am convinced that it was confusion over the name Osterman that led to the sobriquet Ulsterman.”
A total of 14 men were convicted of offences connected to the Great Train Robbery, but at least four are thought to have escaped justice.
The raiders got away with more than £2.6million in cash, which would be worth more than £40million today. Only £400,000 was ever recovered.
The only member of the gang who is still alive is Bob Welch, who served 13 years for the crime.