Great Train Robber Free At Last
Posted on 10. Aug, 2009 by Stenberg-Tendys W.L. in Society
The Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs has finally been released from custody, thirty years to the day after his famous heist.
Ronnie Biggs was the name on everyone’s lips in the early 1960’s. Hie is however, a man who has spent the majority of his life as a fugitive from justice. Biggs masterminded the largest robbery by value in Britain’s history. A record that was held until 1971 when the Baker Street robbery took over the title.
In 2001 Biggs returned to Britain by his own choice, knowing he would face arrest. However, he wanted to walk into a British pub just one more time, to order a pint of bitter. Biggs never made it to the pub, but was arrested immediately he placed a foot on British soil.
Weakened by strokes and sick with pneumonia, 80 year-old Biggs is bedridden, unable to feed himself, walk or talk. Biggs is only able to communicate through pointing to letters on a board.
On July 2 2009 British Justice Secretary Jack Straw had rejected yet another application for Bigg’s release, saying ‘Biggs remained wholly unrepentant of the crime’. No longer a threat to society, the British officials have finally agreed to withdraw the guards from Bigg’s hospital bed, granting him freedom on ‘compassionate grounds’.
The legendary robbery took place on August 8th 1963, when Biggs was just 34 years-old. The gang of thieves hijacked the Royal Mail train and though no guns were used, the robbers beat the train driver with an iron bar, before making off with 2.6 million pounds, (around $65 million at today’s value). The bulk of the stolen money was never found, neither did the train driver fully recover from his injuries.
Biggs was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment, but escaped with three other prisoners, after serving only 15 months of his sentence. He scaled a wall surrounding the prisoner’s exercise yard and fled in a furniture van. It’s believed Biggs was in possession of a considerable amount of the stolen money.
Biggs escaped to Paris where he underwent an identity change and plastic surgery. He shifted to Australia in 1970 and lived a relatively normal life as a builder. When the police were tipped off, Biggs escaped to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where he spent many years walking the sunny beaches of Rio de Janeiro, living the life style of a playboy. He made a recording with the Sex Pistols, ‘No One Is Innocent’ and an advert for hair replacement. He was often photographed with tourists.
Brazil refused to extradite Biggs, allowing Biggs to openly mock British law. When he fathered a Brazilian son he was given even further immunity. In 1981 Biggs was kidnapped by British ex-soldiers and taken to Barbados. The Barbados police rescued Biggs from a yacht and shipped him back to Brazil.
Within hours of the announcement of the release of the ailing Biggs, the BBC was flooded with emails from critics of the move.
