Reginald James "Reg" Spiers was born on 14 December 1941 and is an Australian former athlete who competed in the javelin throw at the 1962 Commonwealth Games, before his later conviction on drug smuggling charges.
10 Facts About Reg Spiers
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Reg Spiers is best known for successfully posting himself in a box from England to Australia to avoid paying for a plane ticket.
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Reg Spiers's results led to his qualification for the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Western Australia, where he came fifth with a best throw of 69.70 metres.
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Unsuccessful, desperate to get back home in time for his daughter's birthday and penniless by the end of the season, Reg Spiers enlisted a fellow athlete to help him build a man-sized wooden box, in which he then air-freighted himself back to Australia.
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The next season, Reg Spiers recorded his best ever throw of 74.45 metres but only finished third nationally.
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Reg Spiers pleaded guilty and was sentenced to ten years, but disappeared from Adelaide in October 1981.
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Reg Spiers next appeared in India, where he was arrested on 5 January 1982 on charges of being a drug courier, which led to questions being asked in the Australian parliament about his passport.
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On 2 June 1987, Reg Spiers was found guilty of four counts of possessing heroin and one count of possessing hashish and sentenced to death.
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Jane Reg Spiers was jailed for six years, with a three-year non-parole period.
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The book was endorsed by Reg Spiers and covers details of his journey from England to Australia as airfreight, as well as his years on the run as a fugitive that led to death row.