Timeline of the life of Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs

Ronnie Biggs was known for his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963

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.

  • 1964 - Biggs stood trial for the robbery and was jailed for 30 years

  • 1965 - After serving just 15 months, he escaped from London's Wandsworth Prison by scaling a wall and jumping on to a mattress in an open top van. He then took his wife and sons to Spain and had plastic surgery in France to change his appearance

  • 1969 - Biggs was tracked by Scotland Yard to Melbourne, Australia and fled to Brazil

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

  • 1977 - Biggs went aboard the British frigate Danae for a few drinks which was in Rio for a courtesy visit, but surprisingly was not arrested.

  • 1978 - He recorded No One is Innocent, for the Sex Pistols and also raised money by selling T-shirts of himself and entertaining Japanese tourists

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

  • 1997 - The Brazilian Supreme Court rejected a new request by the British Government to extradite him

  • 1998 - The fugitive collapsed at his home in Rio and suffered a stroke which temporarily left him unable to speak

  • 1999 - Biggs celebrated 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

  • 2001 - After 35 years on the run, Ronnie Biggs sent an e-mail to Scotland Yard saying he wanted to come home

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

Since 2001 Biggs has suffered from poor health and despite several attempts to secure his release from prison the Home Office repeatedly refused.

In 2009 he was eventually released on compassionate grounds.He was last seen in public at the funeral of of fellow great train robber Bruce Reynolds.

He had a defiant message for the waiting press as he flipped the 'V' sign to the waiting press.