As a young cop of Greek heritage Nick Cecil was used to infiltrate ethnic gambling houses and became a key undercover in a task force assigned to smash illegal bookie syndicates in the 1950s. Much later he was sent to find The Great Train Robbery crook Ronald Biggs by putting his wife Charmian under surveillance when Biggs disappeared from his Blackburn home. Cecil tells an amazing story of becoming friends with the Biggs family (their kids played with his kids) and how close he came to catching the fugitive before he escaped to South America.  

Contains a sample of The Great Pretender © 1955 performed by The Platters with words and music written by Buck Ram, courtesy of Mercury Records.

Contains a sample of White Sports Coat © 1957 performed by Marty Robbins with words and music written by Marty Robbins, courtesy of Columbia Records.

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As a young cop of Greek heritage Nick Cecil was used to infiltrate ethnic gambling houses and became a key undercover in a task force assigned to smash illegal bookie syndicates in the 1950s. Much later he was sent to find&nbsp;The&nbsp;Great Train Robbery crook Ronald Biggs by putting his wife Charmian under surveillance when Biggs disappeared from his Blackburn home. Cecil tells an amazing story of becoming friends with the Biggs family (their kids played with his kids) and how close he came to catching the fugitive before he escaped to South America.&nbsp;&nbsp;
Contains a sample of The Great Pretender &copy; 1955 performed by The Platters with words and music written by Buck Ram, courtesy of Mercury Records.
Contains a sample of White Sports Coat &copy; 1957 performed by Marty Robbins with words and music written by Marty Robbins, courtesy of Columbia Records.
Thanks for listening. Please take the time to rate &amp; review us on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your pods. We love to hear your thoughts and it makes it easier for the rest of the podcast world to find us. Become a subscriber: our supporters power our newsrooms and are critical for the sustainability of news coverage. Becoming a subscriber also gets you exclusive behind-the-scenes content and invitations to special events. Click on the links to subscribe <a href="https://subscribe.theage.com.au/" aria-describedby="slack-kit-tooltip">https://subscribe.theage.com.au/</a>&nbsp;or&nbsp;<a href="https://subscribe.smh.com.au/" aria-describedby="slack-kit-tooltip">https://subscribe.smh.com.au/</a>
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Take a journey into the dark depths of the Australian criminal underworld with Australia’s most formidable crime reporter - John Silvester.

Take a journey into the dark depths of the Australian criminal underworld with Australia&rsquo;s most formidable crime reporter - John Silvester.

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