Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs, may be a frail old man of 79 clinging on to life, but that hasn't stopped Britain denying him his release from jail.
Biggs, along with his accomplices, stole £2.6 million (equivalent to £38 million today) from the Glasgow to London Royal Mail train in 1963.
He was sentenced to 30 years in jail for the crime, but the convict escaped after serving just 15 months and ran off to live in Australia (ironically) and Brazil.
He returned to Britain in 2001, but was re-arrested and sent back to jail to serve the rest of his sentence.
He has now served 10 years of the 30 year sentence, and is imprisoned at HMP Norwich.
Today is the day Biggs was hoping to be released. Now, as pictures of him clinging to life are revealed, frail Biggs will almost certainly die behind bars.
Frail Ronnie Biggs clings to life in hospital on the day he hoped to be free from jail
By Daily Mail Reporter
05th July 2009
Daily Mail
Today Ronnie Biggs hoped he would walk free from jail, but instead the notorious Great Train Robber lies in a hospital bed close to death.
Struggling for breath, the frail 79-year-old's face is a mask of pain as he is monitored by cardiac machines hooked up to his chest.
Yet despite being unable to walk or speak, his bed at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital is watched by three prison guards.
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Clinging to life: Ronnie Biggs lies in his hospital bed - on the day he hoped to be released from prison
The famous robber is recovering after breaking his hip in a fall in prison last weekend.
If he regains health he will be moved back to HMP Norwich, where he has served 10 years of a 30-year sentence.
It was expected that he would be free from prison this week after a parole board recommended his release.
However Justice Secretary Jack Straw rejected the recommendation, on the basis that Biggs 'wholly unrepentant' for his crimes.
In 1963 Biggs was part of a gang that stole £2.6million from a mail train.
Train driver Jack Mills was coshed, suffering serious injuries. He never fully recovered, and died seven years later.
Biggs was given a 30-year sentence in 1964 but escaped after 15 months (he scaled a 30 foot wall with three other prisoners using a ladder thrown from the outside during the prisoners' afternoon exercise). He went on the run abroad before returning voluntarily in 2001 and being jailed.
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Frail: Biggs is recovering from breaking his hip. The 79-year-old has also had three strokes in the last two years
Biggs, who will turn 80 next month, has suffered three strokes and now communicates through an alphabet board.
His son Michael said last week that Biggs had pneumonia, plus fractures of the hip, pelvis and spine and was 'deteriorating'.
He said: 'He cannot read or write. He cannot eat or drink.
'He is being held as a political prisoner when there are rapist, murderers and paedophiles who are allowed to go free, despite committing far worse crimes than him.'
dailymail.co.uk
Biggs, along with his accomplices, stole £2.6 million (equivalent to £38 million today) from the Glasgow to London Royal Mail train in 1963.
He was sentenced to 30 years in jail for the crime, but the convict escaped after serving just 15 months and ran off to live in Australia (ironically) and Brazil.
He returned to Britain in 2001, but was re-arrested and sent back to jail to serve the rest of his sentence.
He has now served 10 years of the 30 year sentence, and is imprisoned at HMP Norwich.
Today is the day Biggs was hoping to be released. Now, as pictures of him clinging to life are revealed, frail Biggs will almost certainly die behind bars.
Frail Ronnie Biggs clings to life in hospital on the day he hoped to be free from jail
By Daily Mail Reporter
05th July 2009
Daily Mail
Today Ronnie Biggs hoped he would walk free from jail, but instead the notorious Great Train Robber lies in a hospital bed close to death.
Struggling for breath, the frail 79-year-old's face is a mask of pain as he is monitored by cardiac machines hooked up to his chest.
Yet despite being unable to walk or speak, his bed at Norfolk and Norwich Hospital is watched by three prison guards.
Enlarge
Clinging to life: Ronnie Biggs lies in his hospital bed - on the day he hoped to be released from prison
The famous robber is recovering after breaking his hip in a fall in prison last weekend.
If he regains health he will be moved back to HMP Norwich, where he has served 10 years of a 30-year sentence.
It was expected that he would be free from prison this week after a parole board recommended his release.
However Justice Secretary Jack Straw rejected the recommendation, on the basis that Biggs 'wholly unrepentant' for his crimes.
In 1963 Biggs was part of a gang that stole £2.6million from a mail train.
Train driver Jack Mills was coshed, suffering serious injuries. He never fully recovered, and died seven years later.
Biggs was given a 30-year sentence in 1964 but escaped after 15 months (he scaled a 30 foot wall with three other prisoners using a ladder thrown from the outside during the prisoners' afternoon exercise). He went on the run abroad before returning voluntarily in 2001 and being jailed.
Enlarge
Frail: Biggs is recovering from breaking his hip. The 79-year-old has also had three strokes in the last two years
Biggs, who will turn 80 next month, has suffered three strokes and now communicates through an alphabet board.
His son Michael said last week that Biggs had pneumonia, plus fractures of the hip, pelvis and spine and was 'deteriorating'.
He said: 'He cannot read or write. He cannot eat or drink.
'He is being held as a political prisoner when there are rapist, murderers and paedophiles who are allowed to go free, despite committing far worse crimes than him.'
dailymail.co.uk
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