NORWICH, England — Ronnie Biggs, notorious for his role in Britain's 1963 Great Train Robbery and 35 years as a celebrity fugitive, was released from custody Friday to spend his dying days in freedom.
Biggs, now seriously ill in hospital, was handed a copy of his licence conditions and signed his release papers the day before he turns 80 -- Saturday also marking 46 years to the day since the infamous heist.
The Ministry of Justice confirmed that the prison staff watching him in the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, where he is being treated for severe pneumonia, have now left his bedside.
"His licence conditions were formally signed off," a ministry spokeswoman for told AFP. "The prison staff who were in attendance before will have left the hospital now."
A series of strokes has also left Biggs bedridden and unable to speak, eat or walk. Though he is now at liberty, he is unlikely to be moved from hospital for a week at the very least because he requires minor surgery.
In a U-turn, Justice Secretary Jack Straw announced Thursday that Biggs, jailed in 2001 after giving himself up, was being released on compassionate grounds because his condition had deteriorated and was unlikely to improve.
His son Michael emerged from the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital clutching his father's release papers.
"My father is now a free man," he told reporters.
"My father signed it himself which is pretty amazing because he's not really capable of writing so to actually see my father trying to scribble his name was a very special moment.
"It's a little scribble but it means a lot.
"Regardless of the fact that my father is very ill, he still has a little bit of a sense of humour so my father shook hands with all the prison guards."
He added: "My father will now -- depending on how long he survives -- he is retiring completely from public life.
"There is absolutely no chance of seeing my father dancing in the West End (London's entertainment district) with a couple of girls around him. He won't be driving fast cars or having a great time."
Straw had last month rejected Biggs's application for parole on the grounds that the robber was "wholly unrepentant" about his crimes but he said the decision on a compassionate release was based on "different considerations."
"The medical evidence clearly shows that Mr Biggs is very ill and that his condition has deteriorated recently, culminating in his re-admission to hospital. His condition is not expected to improve," Straw said.
The infamous Great Train Robbery saw a 15-strong gang hold up a Glasgow to London mail train and make off with 2.6 million pounds, a huge sum at the time, at a railway bridge north of London.
Most of the cash was never found. The train driver, Jack Mills, was hit on the head during the robbery and died seven years later without ever making a full recovery.
Biggs played a minor role in the hold-up but was jailed for 30 years in 1964. He subsequently escaped by scaling a prison wall and jumping onto the roof of a furniture van.
Gang leader Bruce Reynolds told Sky News television: "I'm overjoyed for Ronnie, and certainly overjoyed for Michael, who's worked tirelessly to get his father released from prison.
"It falls in line with the majority of time served by the rest of the team that committed the Great Train Robbery."
On the run for decades, Biggs fled to France, where he had plastic surgery, and Spain before heading to Australia. But he eventually settled in Brazil, where he was often pictured partying in British newspapers.
Biggs beat British extradition requests because he had a Brazilian dependant, his young son Michael, by his Brazilian girlfriend.
He nevertheless handed himself over to British authorities in 2001 amid a blaze of publicity.
Biggs said he wanted to enjoy a pint of beer in an English seaside pub before he died -- but he was sent back to jail to serve out the rest of his sentence.
No comments:
Post a Comment