Re: @sikejsudjek @Martin
Perhaps you never lived through those times. Maybe you have and have forgotten the outrage at the given sentence. These were reported as some of the longest sentences ever given in British criminal history. However it is true that even then a 'life' sentence doesn't mean 'for the rest of your natural life.' That very rarely happens. A minimum of 14 years was more the norm.
Please note that Mr Justice Edmund Davies told the robbers that "to deal with this case leniently would be a positively evil thing" and duly sent most of them down for 30 years. Yet the previous year the same judge had reduced the sentence on appeal of one Charles Connelly, who had been involved in a robbery in which a van driver in Mitcham, Surrey, was shot dead. Cutting his term from 15 to 10 years, Davies said: "The sentence was excessive."
Jack Mills, the driver, was the only one injured, beaten over his head with an iron bar. This type of violence would usually merit a sentence of around 5 years.
Bruce Reynolds, the alleged master mind is said to have told police on his arrest that those sentences had had a detrimental effect. According to him, they had prompted criminals generally to take guns with them when they set out on robberies.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Train_Robbery_%281963%29
http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/aug/08/great-train-robbery-10-things
Biting the hand that feeds IT
