Ronnie Biggs

Biggs was born in Stockwell, London, on 8 August 1929. As a child during the Second World War, he was evacuated to Flitwick, Bedfordshire, and then Delabole, Cornwall.

In 1947, at age 18, Biggs enlisted in the Royal Air Force. He was dishonourably discharged for desertion two years later after breaking into a local chemist shop. One month after that, he was convicted of stealing a car and sentenced to prison. On his release, Biggs took part in a failed robbery attempt of a bookmaker's office in Lambeth, London. During his incarceration in HM Prison Wandsworth, he met Bruce Reynolds.

After his third prison sentence, Biggs tried to go straight and trained as a carpenter. In February 1960, he married 21-year-old Charmian (Brent) Powell in Swanage, the daughter of a primary school headmaster. They had three sons together.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10209584|title=Obituary: Ronnie Biggs|work=BBC News|date=18 December 2013|access-date=18 December 2013}}

{{Main|Great Train Robbery (1963)}}

In 1963, Biggs, who needed money to fund a deposit on the purchase of a house for his family, happened to be working on the house of a train driver who was about to retire. The driver has been variously identified as "Stan Agate", or because of his age, "Old Pete" or "Pop". The train driver's real name is unknown, since he was never caught. Biggs introduced the driver to the train robbery plot, which involved Reynolds.{{cite web|title=QI Series G - Greats|url=http://www.comedy.co.uk/guide/tv/qi/episodes/7/10/|website=British Comedy Guide|access-date=30 December 2014}} Biggs was given the job of arranging for Agate to move the Royal Mail train after it had been waylaid.

On the night of the hold up, Biggs told his wife he was off logging with Reynolds in Wiltshire. The gang then stopped the mail train in the early hours of 8 August 1963, which was Biggs's 34th birthday.[https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2009/aug/06/timeline-ronnie-biggs-prison-release Life and Crimes of Ronnie Biggs: from Brazil to Belmarsh] August 2009, The Guardian. Retrieved March 2011 Agate was unable to operate the main line diesel-electric locomotive because he had only driven shunting locomotives on the Southern Region.{{cite news|title=The day crime gang stopped a train and shocked the world|url=http://www.nottinghampost.com/day-crime-gang-stopped-train-shocked-world/story-19620002-detail/story.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141230132136/http://www.nottinghampost.com/day-crime-gang-stopped-train-shocked-world/story-19620002-detail/story.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=30 December 2014|access-date=30 December 2014|work=Nottingham Post|date=6 August 2013}} Therefore, the driver of the intercepted train, Jack Mills, was coshed with an iron bar and forced to move the engine and mail carriages forward to a nearby bridge over a roadway, which had been chosen as the unloading point. Biggs's main task had been to get Agate to move the train, and when it became obvious that the two were useless in that regard, they were banished to a waiting vehicle while the train was looted.{{cite web|last1=Moore|first1=Patrick H.|title=Dead Legends File – Ronnie Biggs the Great Train Robbery Rogue, Checks Out at Last|url=http://www.allthingscrimeblog.com/2014/01/04/dead-legends-file-ronnie-biggs-the-great-train-robbery-rogue-checks-out-at-last/|website=All Things Crime|access-date=30 December 2014}}

When the men had unloaded 120 of the 128 mailbags from the train within Reynolds' allotted timetable, and returned to their hideout at Leatherslade Farm, various sources show that the robbery yielded the participants £2.6 million (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|2631084|1963|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}); Biggs's share was £147,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|147000|1963|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}).{{cite news | url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/100cb9c6-67bc-11e3-8ada-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2nr6vPQtm |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/acnuo |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | title=Ronnie Biggs, train robber, 1929–2013 | work=Financial Times | date=18 December 2013 | access-date=19 December 2013 | author=Chapman, Peter}} With their timetable brought forward due to the police investigation closing in, Biggs returned home on the following Friday, with his stash in two canvas bags.

After an accomplice failed to carry out his instructions to burn down Leatherslade Farm to destroy any evidence there, Biggs's fingerprints were found on a tomato sauce bottle by Metropolitan Police investigators. Three weeks later, he was arrested in South London, along with 11 other members of the gang. In 1964, nine of the 15-strong gang, including Biggs, were jailed for the crime. Most received sentences of 30 years.

Biggs served 15 months before escaping from Wandsworth Prison on 8 July 1965, scaling the wall with a rope ladder and dropping onto a waiting removal van.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3548190.stm|title=BBC NEWS - UK - Profile: Ronnie Biggs}} He fled to Brussels by boat before sending a note to his wife to join him in Paris where he had acquired new identity papers and was undergoing plastic surgery. During his time in prison, Charmian had started an extramarital relationship and was pregnant by the time of his escape to the Continent. Choosing to support her husband, she had an illegal abortion in London and then travelled with their two sons to Paris to join Biggs.

In 1966, Biggs fled to Sydney, where he lived for several months before moving to the seaside suburb of Glenelg in Adelaide, South Australia. By the time Biggs and his family arrived in 1966, they had spent all but £7,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|7000|1966|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}) of his £147,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|147000|1963|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}) share of the train robbery proceeds: £40,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|40000|1966|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}) on plastic surgery in Paris; £55,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|55000|1966|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}) paid as a package deal to get him out of the UK to Australia; and the rest on legal fees and expenses.

In 1967, just after their third child was born, Biggs received an anonymous letter from Britain telling him that Interpol suspected that he was in Australia and that he should move. In May 1967, the family moved to Melbourne, where he rented a house in the suburb of Blackburn North while his wife Charmian and their three sons lived in Doncaster East. Biggs had a number of jobs in Melbourne before undertaking set construction work at the GTV Channel 9 Television City studios. In October 1969, a newspaper report by a Reuters correspondent revealed that Biggs was living in Melbourne and claimed that police were closing in on him. The story led the evening news bulletin at Channel 9 and Biggs fled his home, staying with family friends in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Five months later, he fled on a passenger liner from the Port of Melbourne, using the altered passport of a friend; his wife and sons remained in Australia. Twenty days later, the ship berthed in Panama and within two weeks Biggs had flown to Brazil.

Following disclosure of Biggs' fathering a child in Brazil, Charmian agreed to a divorce in 1974, which was completed in 1976. Allowed by authorities to remain in Australia, she reverted to her maiden name of Brent and sold her story for £40,000 (equivalent to £{{formatnum:{{inflation|UK|40000|1976|r=-2}}}} as of {{CURRENTYEAR}}) to an Australian media group to enable her to purchase the rented house that the family had lived in at the time of Biggs's flight to Brazil. Charmian later undertook a degree and became an editor, publisher and journalist. Her sons—who later visited Biggs a few times in Brazil—live anonymously. In 2012, Charmian was a consultant on the five-part ITV Studios docu-drama Mrs Biggs, which recounts the couple's time from first meeting to Biggs's flight to Brazil.{{cite web|url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2012-09-05/the-first-mrs-biggs-id-do-it-all-again|title=The first Mrs Biggs: "I'd do it all again"|work=Radio Times|author=Claire Webb|date=5 September 2012|access-date=19 December 2013}}

In 1970, when Biggs arrived in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil did not have an extradition treaty with the United Kingdom. In 1971, Biggs's eldest son, Nicholas, aged 10, died in a car crash{{cite web | url= http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/Biggs-family-vow-fight/article-1130691-detail/article.html | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090809213553/http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/Biggs-family-vow-fight/article-1130691-detail/article.html | url-status= dead | archive-date= 9 August 2009 | title= Biggs family vow to fight on | df= dmy-all }} in Melbourne.Mrs Biggs

In 1974, Daily Express reporter Colin MacKenzie received information suggesting that Biggs was in Rio de Janeiro; a team consisting of MacKenzie, photographer Bill Lovelace and reporter Michael O'Flaherty confirmed this and broke the story. Scotland Yard detective Jack Slipper arrived soon afterwards, but Biggs could not be extradited because his girlfriend, nightclub dancer Raimunda de Castro, was pregnant. Brazilian law at the time did not allow a parent of a Brazilian child to be extradited.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/18206.stm UK asks for extradition of Ronnie Biggs] 30 October 1997, BBC. Retrieved August 2011

During 1974, in Rio, Biggs, an avid jazz fan, collaborated with Bruce Henri (an American double bass player), Jaime Shields, and Aureo de Souza to record Mailbag Blues, a musical narrative of his life that he intended to use as a movie soundtrack. This album was left undiscovered until it was finally released in 2004 by whatmusic.com.{{cite web |url=http://www.whatmusic.com/info/productinfo.php?productid=280 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220145807/http://www.whatmusic.com/info/productinfo.php?productid=280 |url-status=usurped |archive-date=20 December 2013 |title=WhatMusic.com official site |publisher=WhatMusic.com |access-date=2 November 2009}}

In April 1977, Biggs attended an informal drinks party on board the Royal Navy frigate {{HMS|Danae|F47}}, which was in Rio for a courtesy visit, but he was not arrested. Though in Brazil he was safe from extradition, Biggs's status as a known criminal meant he could not work, visit bars or be away from home after 10 p.m.{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Hu0DAAAAMBAJ&q=ronnie+biggs&pg=PA40 |title=Prisoner in Paradise |publisher=Weekly World News |date=8 August 1989 }} To provide an income, Biggs's family hosted barbecues at his home in Rio, where tourists could meet Biggs and hear him recount his involvement in the robbery, which, in fact, was minor. Biggs was even visited by former footballer Stanley Matthews, whom Biggs afterwards invited to his apartment after hearing that he was in Rio. "We had tea on the small balcony at the rear of his home, and one of the first things he asked was, 'How are Charlton Athletic doing?' It turned out he had supported Charlton from being a small boy and had often seen me play at The Valley."Matthews, Stanley. The Way It Was: My Autobiography, Headline, 2000 ({{ISBN|0747271089}}) Around this time, "Ronnie Biggs" mugs, coffee cups and T-shirts also appeared throughout Rio.

Biggs recorded vocals on two songs for The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle, Julien Temple's film about the Sex Pistols. The basic tracks for "No One is Innocent" (a.k.a. "The Biggest Blow (A Punk Prayer)"/"Cosh The Driver") and "Belsen Was a Gas" were recorded with guitarist Steve Jones and drummer Paul Cook at a studio in Brazil shortly after the Sex Pistols' final performance, with overdubs added in an English studio at a later date. "No One is Innocent" was released as a single in the UK on 30 June 1978 and reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart. The sleeve showed a British actor dressed as Nazi leader Martin Bormann playing bass with the group.

File:Ronnie-Biggs-celebrates-70th-birthday-1999.jpg, the robbery mastermind]]

In March 1981, Biggs was kidnapped by a gang of British ex-soldiers. The boat they took him aboard suffered mechanical problems off Barbados, and the stranded kidnappers and Biggs were rescued by the Barbados coastguard and towed into port in Barbados. The kidnappers hoped to collect a reward from the British police; however, like Brazil, Barbados was found to have had no valid extradition treaty with the United Kingdom (a fact which chess player David Levy claimed to have paid lawyers to unearth){{Cite web|url=http://www.kingpinchess.net/2013/12/the-chess-player-and-the-train-robber-3/|title=Kingpin Chess Magazine » The Chess Player and the Train Robber|website=www.kingpinchess.net|date=18 December 2013 |access-date=18 August 2016}} and Biggs was sent back to Brazil.{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2013/mar/25/ronnie-biggs-train-robbery-kidnap|title=From the archive, 25 March 1981: Kidnapping of Ronnie Biggs ends in farce|date=25 March 2013|publisher= guardian.com|access-date= 24 March 2016}}{{cite news | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1997-oct-05-mn-39479-story.html | title=Great Train Robber on the Lam in Brazil Finds British Lion on Trail | work=Los Angeles Times | date=5 October 1997 | first=Peter | last=Muello | access-date=22 May 2010}} In February 2006, Channel 4 aired a documentary featuring dramatisations of the attempted kidnapping and interviews with John Miller, the ex-British Army soldier who carried it out. The team was headed by security consultant Patrick King. In the documentary, King claimed that the kidnapping may have been a deniable operation.{{cite news | url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/kidnap-ronnie-biggs |title=Kidnap Ronnie Biggs- Documentary|date=9 February 2006|publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=2 November 2009}} The ITN reporter Desmond Hamill paid to accompany Biggs on the private Learjet returning him to Brazil and secured an exclusive interview, as well as convincing Biggs to kiss the tarmac upon landing.[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10028668/Desmond-Hamill.html Daily Telegraph Obituary]. Retrieved 3 May 2013 The kidnapping attempt was the subject of the film Prisoner of Rio (1988), which was co-written by Biggs. In the film, Biggs was played by Paul Freeman.

Biggs's son by de Castro, Michael Biggs, was seven years old when he became a member of the highly successful{{Cite web|date=11 April 2014|title=Michael Biggs: The end of the line for a dutiful son?|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/michael-biggs-end-line-dutiful-son-9252819.html|access-date=12 March 2021|website=The Independent|language=en}} Brazilian children's programme and music band Balão Mágico (1982–1986),{{Cite web|date=24 August 2009|title=My father Ronnie Biggs|url=http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/aug/25/ronnie-michael-biggs-lockerbie|access-date=12 March 2021|website=The Guardian|language=en}} bringing relative financial security to his father.

In 1991, Biggs sang vocals for the songs "Police on My Back" and "Carnival in Rio" by German punk band Die Toten Hosen. In 1993, Biggs sang on three tracks for the album Bajo Otra Bandera by Argentinian punk band Pilsen.{{cite web |url=http://www.pagina12.com.ar/diario/suplementos/radar/9-724-2003-05-04.html |language=es |title=Mi papá es un punk |publisher=pagina12 |date=4 May 2006 |access-date=2 November 2009}}{{cite web |url=http://unkilo.blogspot.com/2009/03/pil-trafa-y-ronald-biggs-i-solo-para.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090427084111/http://unkilo.blogspot.com/2009/03/pil-trafa-y-ronald-biggs-i-solo-para.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 April 2009 |title=Pil Trafa y Ronald Biggs |language=es |publisher=BlogSpot.com |date=7 March 2009 |access-date=2 November 2009 }}

In 1993, Slipper travelled once more to Rio on a private mission to try to persuade Biggs to come home voluntarily, which failed.{{cite news |access-date=2024-03-06 |title=The Guardian: Ronnie Biggs obituary |newspaper=The Guardian |date=18 December 2013 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/18/ronnie-biggs-obituary |last1=Campbell |first1=Duncan }}

In 1994 the German journalist Ulli Kulke managed to bring both Biggs and Slipper together in a telephone interview. In this interview the two antagonists talk about their encounters in 1974 and 1993. The Interview was first published (in German) in 1994 in the German weekly Wochenpost and reprinted in the daily newspaper Die Welt in 2013 on the occasion of Biggs' death.{{cite web | url=https://www.welt.de/vermischtes/article123080800/Ein-Gespraech-wie-unter-guten-alten-Kumpels.html | title=Ronnie Biggs und der Inspektor: Ein Gespräch wie unter guten alten Kumpels - WELT }}

In 1997 the UK and Brazil ratified an extradition treaty. Two months later, the UK government made a formal request to the Brazilian government for Biggs's extradition. Biggs had stated that he would no longer oppose extradition. English lawyer Nigel Sangster QC travelled to Brazil to advise Biggs. The extradition request was rejected by the Brazilian Supreme Court, giving Biggs the right to live in Brazil for the rest of his life.{{cite web|url=http://www.stpaulschambers.com/case-experience-of-nigel-sangster-qc|title=Fraud & financial Regulation QC - Leeds QC - Fraud QC Leeds}}

In 2001 Biggs announced to The Sun newspaper that he would be willing to return to the UK.

Having 28 years of his sentence left to serve, Biggs was aware that he would be detained upon arrival in Britain. His trip back to Britain on a private jet was paid for by The Sun newspaper, which reportedly paid Michael Biggs £20,000 plus other expenses{{According to whom|date=August 2017}} in return for exclusive rights to the news story. Biggs arrived on 7 May 2001, whereupon he was immediately arrested and re-imprisoned.

His son Michael said in a press release that, contrary to some press reports, Biggs did not return to the UK simply to receive health care which was not available in Brazil, and he had friends who would have contributed to such expenses,{{cite web|url=http://www.prnewswire.co.uk/cgi/news/release?id=66752|title=Statement from Michael Biggs =PR Newswire|access-date=6 August 2009}} but that it was his desire to "walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/pictures/image/0,8543,-10704180185,00.html|title=2001: Biggs wants to return|work=The Sun | location=London | access-date=22 May 2010}} John Mills, son of train driver Jack Mills, was unforgiving: "I deeply resent those, including Biggs, who have made money from my father's death. Biggs should serve his punishment."Kim Sengupta [https://web.archive.org/web/20090710181656/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/after-36-years-on-the-run-biggs-is-back-where-he-belongs-shy-in-jail-684106.html "After 36 years on the run, Biggs is back where he belongs: in jail"], The Independent, 8 May 2001 Mills never fully recovered from his injuries sustained during the robbery. He died of an unrelated cause (leukaemia) in 1970.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1310271.stm |title=Flashback: The Great Train Robbery}}{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12419390|title=Biggs in hospital 'after stroke'|work=BBC News|date=10 February 2011}}

On 14 November 2001, Biggs petitioned Governor Hynd of HMP Belmarsh for early release on compassionate grounds based on his poor health. He had been treated four times at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, London, in less than six months. His health was deteriorating rapidly, and he asked to be released into the care of his son for his remaining days.{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/jan/17/ukcrime.simonhattenstone | title=My beloved dad, the train robber | work=The Guardian | date=17 January 2004 | access-date=22 October 2013}} The application was denied. On 10 August 2005, it was reported that Biggs had contracted MRSA. His representatives, seeking for his release on grounds of compassion, said that their client's death was likely to be imminent.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4137312.stm|title=Release appeal as Biggs has MRSA|date=4 July 2007|work=BBC News}} On 26 October 2005, Home Secretary Charles Clarke declined his appeal, stating that his illness was not terminal. Home Office compassion policy is to release prisoners with three months left to live.{{cite news|url=http://u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=66484&pt=n|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060107122329/http://www.u.tv/newsroom/indepth.asp?id=66484&pt=n|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 January 2006|title=Plea to release Ronnie Biggs rejected|publisher=Ulster Television|date=26 October 2005}} Biggs was claimed by his son Michael to need a tube for feeding and to have "difficulty" speaking.

On 4 July 2007, Biggs was moved from Belmarsh Prison to Norwich Prison on compassionate grounds.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6269312.stm|title=Biggs moved from Belmarsh prison|date=4 July 2007|work=BBC News }} In December, Biggs issued a further appeal, from Norwich Prison, asking to be released to die with his family: "I am an old man, and often wonder if I truly deserve the extent of my punishment. I have accepted it, and only want freedom to die with my family and not in jail. I hope Mr. Straw decides to allow me to do that. I have been in jail for a long time, and I want to die a free man. I am sorry for what happened. It has not been an easy ride over the years. Even in Brazil, I was a prisoner of my own making. There is no honour to being known as a Great Train Robber. My life has been wasted."{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/ronnie-biggs-pleads-let-me-out-so-i-can-die-with-my-family-767408.html|title=Ronnie Biggs pleads: Let me out so I can die with my family |date=30 December 2007|author=Jonathan Owen|author2=Sadie Gray|work=Independent on Sunday | location=London}}

In January 2009 a series of strokes were said to have rendered him unable to speak or walk. His son Michael had also claimed that the Parole Board might bring the release date forward to July. On 13 February that year, it was reported that Biggs had been taken to hospital from his cell at Norwich Prison, suffering from pneumonia.{{cite news|url=http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090213/tuk-ronnie-biggs-is-taken-to-hospital-45dbed5.html |title=Ronnie Biggs Is Taken To Hospital |publisher=Yahoo News |date=13 February 2009 |access-date=13 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090216182648/http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090213/tuk-ronnie-biggs-is-taken-to-hospital-45dbed5.html |archive-date=16 February 2009 }}{{cite news|url= http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Great-Train-Robber-Ronnie-Biggs-In-Hospital-With-Pneumonia-From-Cell-At-Belmarsh-Prison/Article/200902215222794?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15222794_Great_Train_Robber_Ronnie_Biggs_In_Hospital_With_Pneumonia_From_Cell_At_Belmarsh_Prison|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090813222137/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/Great-Train-Robber-Ronnie-Biggs-In-Hospital-With-Pneumonia-From-Cell-At-Belmarsh-Prison/Article/200902215222794?lpos=UK_News_First_Home_Article_Teaser_Region_3&lid=ARTICLE_15222794_Great_Train_Robber_Ronnie_Biggs_In_Hospital_With_Pneumonia_From_Cell_At_Belmarsh_Prison|url-status= dead|archive-date= 13 August 2009|title= Ronnie Biggs Is Taken To Hospital|publisher= Sky News|date= 13 February 2009|access-date= 13 February 2009|df= dmy-all}}{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7889553.stm|title= Train robber Biggs hospitalised|publisher=BBC|date= 13 February 2009|access-date=13 February 2009}} This was confirmed the following day by his son Michael, who said Biggs had serious pneumonia but was stable.{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/7890271.stm|title= Train robber Biggs has pneumonia|publisher=BBC|date= 14 February 2009|access-date=14 February 2009}} News of his condition prompted fresh calls from his son Michael for his release on compassionate grounds.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4628912/Ronnie-Biggs-Son-Michael-pleads-for-the-release-of-great-train-robber.html |title=Ronnie Biggs: Son Michael pleads for the release of great train robber |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London |date=15 February 2009 |access-date=16 February 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219011119/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/4628912/Ronnie-Biggs-Son-Michael-pleads-for-the-release-of-great-train-robber.html |archive-date=19 February 2009 }}

On 23 April 2009, the Parole Board recommended that Biggs be released on 4 July,{{cite news|url= http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6154459.ece|title= Ronnie Biggs recommended for early release|work=The Times |location=London|date= 23 April 2009 | first1=Richard | last1=Ford | first2=Adam | last2=Fresco | access-date=22 May 2010}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} having served a third of his 30-year sentence. However, on 1 July, Straw did not accept the Parole Board's recommendation and refused parole, stating that Biggs was 'wholly unrepentant'.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/8188479.stm|title=Train robber Biggs wins freedom |date=6 August 2009|work=BBC News |access-date=6 August 2009}} On 28 July, Biggs was readmitted to Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital with pneumonia. He had been admitted to the same hospital a month earlier, with a chest infection and a fractured hip, but returned to prison on 17 July. His son Michael said, in one of his frequent news releases: "It's the worst he's ever been. The doctors have just told me to rush there."[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/8172555.stm Train Robber Biggs has Pneumonia] BBC. 28 July 2009

On 30 July, it was claimed by representatives of Biggs that he had been given "permission" to challenge the decision to refuse him parole. However, the Home Office stated only that "an application for the early release on compassionate grounds of a prisoner at HMP Norwich" had been received by the public protection casework section in the National Offender Management Service.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/norfolk/8176874.stm Biggs to Challenge Parole Refusal] BBC Online 30 July 2009 Biggs was released from custody on 6 August 2009, two days before his 80th birthday, on "compassionate grounds".{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/08/world/europe/08robber.html|title=Britain's Great Train Robber Freed |last=Burns|first=John|date=7 August 2009|work=The New York Times|access-date=13 August 2009}}

Following his release from prison, Biggs's health improved, leading to suggestions that he might soon be moved from hospital to a nursing home. In response to claims that Biggs's state of health had been faked, his lawyer stated, "This man is going to die, there is going to be no Lazarus coming back from the dead, he is ill, he is seriously ill." However, Biggs himself stated, "I've got a bit of living to do yet. I might even surprise them all by lasting until Christmas [of 2010], that would be fantastic."{{Cite web |title=Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs in hospital |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7782584/Great-Train-Robber-Ronnie-Biggs-in-hospital.html |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=www.telegraph.co.uk|date=29 May 2010 }}

On 29 May 2010, Biggs was again admitted to hospital in London after complaining of chest pain. He underwent tests at Barnet Hospital. His son Michael stated, "he's conscious but he's in a lot of pain". In August 2010, it was claimed by the Sunday Mirror that Biggs would be attending a gala dinner where he would be collecting a lifetime achievement award for his services to crime.

On 10 February 2011, Biggs was admitted to Barnet Hospital with another suspected stroke. His son Michael said he was conscious and preparing to have a CT scan and a series of other tests to determine what had happened.[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12419390 Ronnie Biggs admitted to hospital with a suspected stroke] BBC. 10 February 2011 On 17 November 2011, Biggs launched his new and updated autobiography, Ronnie Biggs: Odd Man Out – The Last Straw, at Shoreditch House, London.{{cite book|title=Odd Man Out – The Last Straw|author=Ronnie Biggs & Chris Packard|publisher=M Press|date=17 November 2011|isbn=978-0957039827}} He was unable to speak and used a word board to communicate with the press.{{cite web|url=https://uk.news.yahoo.com/ronnie-biggs-details-regrets-book-172410554.html|title=Ronnie Biggs Details 'Regrets' In New Book|date=17 November 2011 }}

On 12 January 2012, ITV Studios announced it had commissioned a five-part drama, Mrs Biggs, to be based around the life of Biggs's wife Charmian, played by Sheridan Smith and Biggs by Daniel Mays. Charmian Biggs acted as a consultant on the series and travelled to Britain from Australia to visit Biggs in February 2012, just before filming for Mrs Biggs.Page 18/19 of the ITV press pack[http://www.itv.com/news/meridian/2012-09-04/the-two-mrs-biggs/ The two Mrs Biggs]. ITV, 4 September 2012. Retrieved 14 March 2013.

In March 2013, Biggs attended the funeral of fellow train robber, Bruce Reynolds.{{Cite web |date=2013-03-20 |title=Bruce Reynolds funeral: Ronnie Biggs attends Great Train Robber's sendoff |url=http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2013/mar/20/bruce-reynolds-funeral-ronnie-biggs |access-date=2023-01-29 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} In July 2013, The Great Train Robbery 50th Anniversary: 1963–2013 was published, with input from Biggs and Reynolds.

On 18 December 2013, aged 84, Biggs died at the Carlton Court Care Home in Barnet, North London, where he was being cared for.{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-10209584|title=Obituary: Ronnie Biggs|work=BBC News|date=18 December 2013}}{{cite news | title = Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs dies aged 84 | date = 18 December 2013 | publisher = BBC News UK | url = https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25426914 | access-date = 18 December 2013}} His death coincidentally occurred hours before the first broadcast of a two-part BBC television series, The Great Train Robbery, in which Biggs was portrayed by actor Jack Gordon.{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/ronnie-biggs-dead-great-train-robber-dies-aged-84-9012029.html | title=Ronnie Biggs dead: Great Train Robbery fugitive dies aged 84 | work=The Independent | date=18 December 2013 | access-date=18 December 2013 | author=Withnall, Adam | location=London}} Biggs's body was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium on 3 January 2014. The coffin was covered with the Union Flag, the flag of Brazil and a Charlton Athletic scarf. An honour guard of British Hells Angels escorted his hearse to the crematorium.{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25594688 | title=Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs's funeral takes place | work=BBC News | access-date=4 January 2014 | date=3 January 2014}} The Reverend Dave Tomlinson officiated at Biggs's funeral, for which he drew public criticism; Tomlinson responded to critics by using the Bible verse "Judge not, that ye be not judged".{{cite news|last1=Sherwin|first1=Adam|title=Ronnie Biggs was an 'extraordinary' man, says the unrepentant Reverend|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/news/ronnie-biggs-was-an-extraordinary-man-says-the-unrepentant-reverend-who-took-train-robbers-funeral-9052382.html|access-date=6 April 2016|work=The Independent|date=10 January 2014|language=en-GB}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.theguardian.com/gall/0,8542,485296,00.html Guardian photo gallery of Biggs]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20050905080444/http://www.crimelibrary.com/gangsters_outlaws/cops_others/biggs/index.html?sect=18 "The Big One: Ronald Biggs and the Great Train Robbery"], Crime Library
• [https://archive.today/20131218102818/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/10524589/Ronnie-Biggs.html Obituary] at the Daily Telegraph
• [https://www.economist.com/news/obituary/21592584-ronald-arthur-ronnie-biggs-great-train-robber-died-december-18th-aged-84-ronnie-biggs Ronald Arthur (Ronnie) Biggs, Great Train Robber, died on December 18th, aged 84] The Economist, Obituary, 4 January 2014.

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