RONNIE BIGGS.

[Earl]

You seem to be forgetting that the Great Train Robbery was a violent crime, people were threatened and one guard badly beaten.

Ronnie Biggs is no angel, he's a criminal and he's shown no remorse for his crimes. The reason Jack Straw refused his parole is because he didn't meet the requirements, one of which is that you t least pretend to show remorse for your crimes. Biggs is as cocky and arrogant as ever. Bollocks to him.

[syl1]

You seem to be forgetting that the Great Train Robbery was a violent crime, people were threatened and one guard badly beaten.

Ronnie Biggs is no angel, he's a criminal and he's shown no remorse for his crimes. The reason Jack Straw refused his parole is because he didn't meet the requirements, one of which is that you t least pretend to show remorse for your crimes. Biggs is as cocky and arrogant as ever. Bollocks to him.

I'me not forgetting anything. He is probably an obnoxious cockney former petty criminal.
He is'nt a child murderer though, is he?
So, as I was answering the majors question, my opinion is, he should be released.

[Major Starbold]

Life after the Great Train Robbery

By Chris Moncrieff and Jack Doyle, Press Association

Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Here is a timetable charting Ronald Biggs's life since the Great Train Robbery:

About one month after the robbery, Biggs and other members of the gang were tracked down by police after an operation led by Scotland Yard detective Jack Slipper.

* January 1964 - Biggs stands trial for the robbery and is jailed for 30 years.

* July 7, 1965 - After serving just 15 months, he escapes from London's Wandsworth Prison by scaling a wall and jumping on to a mattress in an open-top van.

* The same year Biggs took his wife Charmian and sons to Spain and spent two months convalescing after having plastic surgery in France to change his appearance.

* 1969 - Biggs is tracked by Scotland Yard to Melbourne, Australia, and flees to Brazil.

* 1970 - The mail train driver Jack Mills, who never made a full recovery after being coshed during the robbery, dies.

* 1971 - Biggs's son Nicky dies in a car crash aged 10.

* 1974 - Biggs makes a deal with the Daily Express amid rumours he would surrender if assured an early parole date, but the paper contacts detective Jack Slipper who arrests him in Rio de Janeiro. The train robber successfully argued against extradition because he had a Brazilian dependant, a young son Michael, by his girlfriend Raimunda.

* April 1977 - Biggs goes aboard the British frigate Danae, in Rio for a courtesy visit, for a few drinks but surprisingly is not arrested.

* 1978 - He records No One Is Innocent for the Sex Pistols and also raises money by selling T-shirts of himself and entertaining Japanese tourists.

* March 1981 - Biggs is kidnapped in Rio by a gang of adventurers and smuggled to Barbados by boat. Their aim is to bring him back to Britain. The Barbados High Court decides the rules governing extradition to Britain had not been properly put before the island's parliament, and Biggs is allowed to return to Rio.

* 1988 - Pop star Phil Collins stars in Buster, a film based on the train robbery.

* January 1994 - Biggs publishes his autobiography Odd Man Out.

* 1997 - The Brazilian supreme court rejects a new request by the British Government to extradite him.

* March 1998 - The fugitive collapses at his home in Rio and suffered a stroke which temporarily left him unable to speak.

* August 8, 1999 - Biggs celebrates his 70th birthday in the company of 140 friends including fellow Great Train Robber Bruce Reynolds, 36 years to the day after their infamous crime.

* September 1999 - Biggs appears in a worldwide TV advert for hair grafts. In the same month he suffers his second stroke, followed by a third stroke 12 days later.

* May 3, 2001 - After 35 years on the run, Ronnie Biggs sends an email to Scotland Yard saying he wanted to come home.

* May 6, 2001 - The plane carrying Biggs takes off from Rio de Janeiro airport en route for UK.

* May 7, 2001 - Biggs arrives on a private plane at RAF Northolt, and is immediately arrested. He is later sent back to prison.

Within weeks Biggs was in hospital receiving treatment for a suspected stroke. He spent much of his time in the prison hospital at Belmarsh after suffering a series of heart attacks, strokes and epileptic seizures.

* January 30, 2002 - The Criminal Cases Review Commission rejects an application to send Biggs's case to the Court of Appeal. He argued his sentence was inappropriate and unnecessary.

* March 28, 2002 - Biggs's lawyers lodges papers at the High Court arguing his is an "exceptional case" and should be sent back to the Court of Appeal.

* July 10, 2002 - Biggs marries Brazilian former Samba dancer Raimunda Rothen, the mother of his son Michael, in a private ceremony at Belmarsh jail attended by 11 guests.

* January 13, 2003 - Michael claims his father was punched and "karate kicked" by a prison officer in Belmarsh.

* August 8, 2003 - 40th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery.

* October 2, 2003 - Biggs's attempt to appeal against his sentence is thrown out by a High Court judge who calls it "hopeless" and "misconceived". His son Michael complained that his father was not given legal aid to fight the case and announces plans to go to the European Court of Human Rights.

* August 2004 - Lawyers for the Great Train Robber launched a High Court bid to secure his release on compassionate grounds.

* December 2005 - An appeal to home secretary Charles Clarke for a pardon is rejected.

* July 2007 - Biggs is moved from Belmarsh high security prison in south east London to Norwich Prison, where he lives on a unit for elderly inmates.

* April 2009 - Biggs applies for parole. He is eligible for release because he has served one-third of his sentence. A final decision is delayed while arrangements are made for the 24-hour care he will require.

* June 25, 2009 - A Parole Board recommends to Justice Secretary Jack Straw that Biggs be released, saying the risk of him reoffending is "manageable".

* June 28, 2009 - Biggs is taken to hospital with a broken hip and a chest infection.

* July 1 2009 - Biggs is refused parole by the Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

He could have done 3 murders for the sentence he got.

Did jack Mills get bashed up much?

[Earl]

He got 30 years, so he should serve it. I can't agree with do-gooders and liberals who want to let criminals out of prison early. If you can't do the time don't commit the crime.

[syl1]

It's very seldom a prisoner would serve the full sentence. So it would'nt be unusual to release him. I doubt whether this bloke in America, who has just been setenced for fiddling billions, will be serving his full time.

[Earl]

Again, releasing others early doesn't justify releasing anyone else early. All convicts should serve their full sentence.

[Major Starbold]

Again, releasing others early doesn't justify releasing anyone else early. All convicts should serve their full sentence.

Ah, Mr. M. I will whole heartedly agree with thee, 'ALL convicts should serve their full sentence',
I will be happy with that.

[syl1]

Again, releasing others early doesn't justify releasing anyone else early. All convicts should serve their full sentence.

Doubt whether he will.

[sweeny todd]

You seem to be forgetting that the Great Train Robbery was a violent crime, people were threatened and one guard badly beaten.

Ronnie Biggs is no angel, he's a criminal and he's shown no remorse for his crimes. The reason Jack Straw refused his parole is because he didn't meet the requirements, one of which is that you t least pretend to show remorse for your crimes. Biggs is as cocky and arrogant as ever. Bollocks to him.

violent crime my butt ive seen more violence in some of the pubs i used to frequent , and yes some of the offenders were as it were nicked but i class putting a glass in somebodies face and getting 2 yrs an insult to justice when a man who got a tap on the head and died 8 yrs later ,not proven that the tap on the head caused his death ! and most perpetrators of this so called crime of the century totaly out of touch with reality 1960s or now the 30yr sentence beggars belief ! it was after all only money ,3 life sentences were not warented , a murderer can walk in 7.5 yrs where is the justice ???

[sweeny todd]

just one small point i dont think the poor old sod cares wether he dies in or out he cant talk cant walk cant feed himself i honestly think he"s happy wherever he is !!!