”Great Train Robber” Ronnie Biggs is due to be freed from jail on Friday after Justice Secretary Jack Straw agreed to release him on compassionate grounds.
Biggs, who is said to be frail and sick in hospital with pneumonia, celebrates his 80th Birthday on Saturday — 46 years to the day of the infamous multimillion-dollar heist that earned him a place in history.
Along with 11 other gang members, Biggs robbed a Glasgow-to-London mail train in 1963 and stole £2,6-million pounds — about £30-million in today’s money. The crime became known as ”The Great Train Robbery”.
He was caught and convicted of the robbery the following year but escaped from prison after just 15 months.
Following his escape, he spent decades as a fugitive, moving briefly from Australia to Panama and Venezuela, before ending up living in Brazil, where his playboy lifestyle and cocky defiance of the British authorities made him a criminal legend.
Biggs returned to Britain voluntarily in 2001 and has been in jail since, but his declining health stirred debate about whether he should be released after serving just 10 years of a 30-year sentence.
Straw approved his release on Thursday after being told he is unlikely to recover, reversing his decision last month to refuse him parole because he had not shown remorse for his crime.
Biggs’s son, Michael, who is at his father’s bedside at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, said he was waiting for a signed document from the authorities guaranteeing his freedom.
Once that arrives, guards stationed by his bed and in front of his room, as well as security equipment such as metal detectors, will be removed.
Michael Biggs said that his father, who has suffered several strokes, was unable to speak, walk or feed himself. But he said he was nevertheless ”absolutely delighted” with the news.
”It took him a few minutes to use a spelling board, but his actual first words were that he is ‘over the moon’. He is very happy,” Michael told television reporters outside the hospital.
”We are all delighted that finally common sense has prevailed and hopefully within the next few hours once the fax arrives he will be a free man. — Reuters