The Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs dies aged 84
The Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs who won worldwide infamy for spending 36 years on the run after escaping prison, has died aged 84.
Biggs, who was last seen in public in March, "flicking the V" at the funeral of fellow robber Bruce Reynolds, died early this morning.
The world-renowned robber was being cared for at Carlton Court Care Home in East Barnet, north London, after suffering several strokes in recent years.
He was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds due to ill health, despite being re-arrested in 2001 after evading the authorities since his first escape from Wandsworth Prison in 1965. At the time of his escape, Biggs had served just 15 months of the 30-year sentence he was handed for his part in the robbery of a Royal Mail freight train between London and Glasgow on August 8 1963.
Speaking earlier this year, he said he was proud to have been part of the gang behind the robbery, which saw 15 men escape with a record haul of £2.6 million - the equivalent of about £46 million today.
Biggs, who could not speak due to his strokes and communicated through a spelling board, said: "If you want to ask me if I have any regrets about being one of the train robbers, my answer is 'No'."I will go further: I am proud to have been one of them. I am equally happy to be described as the 'tea-boy' or 'The Brain'.
"I was there that August night and that is what counts. I am one of the few witnesses - living or dead - to what was 'The Crime of the Century'."
For many, the glamour of the crime was overshadowed by the brutal attack on the train's driver. Jack Mills, who was coshed, reportedly by Biggs, never fully recovered from the ordeal and died a few years later.
Mr Mills's family described Biggs as just a criminal.
His son Stephen died on Christmas Day 2011, aged 48. Widow Barbara Mills, 57, from Sandbach, Cheshire, said: "I'm just sad Stephen died before he did."Biggs is not a hero, he's just an out and out villain."