MORE THAN A MOVIE

THE MOST INFAMOUS PRISON BREAKS

There are plenty of memorable moments in Shawshank, but none more so than that jawdropping end, in which we see the most masterful of prison breaks – involving a 20-year slog, a tiny rock hammer, and a well-placed Raquel Welch poster. But sometimes, truth is stranger than fiction. Take a look at these real-life escapes…

Houdini Hinds

Alfred George Hinds was a British criminal who, while serving a 12year prison sentence for robbery, somehow managed to break out of three high-security prisons, earning himself the nickname “Houdini Hinds”. His jail-busting feats included breaking open locked doors, scaling a 20-foot wall, and even managing to lock two prison guards in the toilet. After he was eventually freed – legally, this time

– he put his artful skills to good use by becoming a high-ranking member of Mensa.

Escape From Alcatraz

Alcatraz was America’s notoriously inescapable maximum-security facility, surrounded by the freezing waters of San Francisco Bay. But in 1962, three men seemingly did the impossible, after spending two years digging an escape route through the cell walls, placing dummies in their beds to fool the guards, and building a raft to sail to freedom. Unfortunately, Frank Morris and brothers John and Clarence Anglin only made it so far. They went missing at sea, and in 1979, the FBI officially closed the case, concluding they must have drowned. Yet, to this day, no bodies have been found.

The Great Train Robber

Ronald Arthur “Ronnie” Biggs was one of 15 men involved in the Great Train Robbery of 1963. He was sentenced to 30 years inside, but a year later, escaped using a homemade rope ladder to scale a wall before jumping onto a van. He fled to Brussels then to Paris, where he had plastic surgery and acquired a new identity. He spent the next 36 years on the run, but returned to the UK in 2001. He was arrested upon arrival and served another eight years, before being released.