London - The family of Britain's 'Great Train Robber,'
Ronnie Biggs, said Thursday they would appeal against the government
decision to keep the frail 79-year-old in jail.
Biggs was 'extremely disappointed' with the decision by British
Justice Secretary Jack Straw not to grant him parole, his son Michael
said after visiting his father Thursday.
'My father is now more than ever a political prisoner,' he added.
But the family would 'not give up the fight' and seek a judicial
review of the decision.
Straw Wednesday ruled that Biggs, who was convicted in 1964,
escaped and spent 36 years on the run from police, should serve the
remainder of his sentence as he had been 'wholly unrepentant.'
'This is not justice. This is beyond belief,' his son Michael
said. His father was in a 'life-threatening condition' and 'no threat
to society whatsoever.'
'Why should my father not be entitled to the same rights as
paedophiles, rapists and psychopaths in this country?' asked Biggs.
In parliament Thursday, Labour member Kate Hoye said some
parliamentarians disagreed with Straw's decision and wanted a debate
- a request that was rejected on technical grounds.
Hoye said she found it hard to understand that 'hundreds of
terrorists and murderers' had been freed from jail in Northern
Ireland under the terms of the peace agreement, while Biggs' request
for parole had been rejected.
Biggs, who returned from Brazil in 2001 to give himself up to
British police, is currently in hospital in the eastern city of
Norwich after breaking a hip. He had earlier been held in jail there.
His son said Biggs, who has suffered a series of strokes, was
currently being treated for pneumonia, plus fractures of the hip,
pelvis and spine and his condition was 'deteriorating.'
'If he does not respond to the current treatment he is receiving
there is a risk he could pass away,' said Michael Biggs.
Biggs was a member of a 15-strong gang which raided the Glasgow to
London mail train in August, 1963, and made off off with 2.6 million
pounds, a record at the time and dubbed in Britain 'The Great Train
Robbery.'
He was given the 30-year sentence but after 15 months he escaped
from prison in London and went on the run, living in Spain, Australia
and Brazil.
Straw ruled that he should not be granted parole, despite a
recommendation to the contrary from the prison parole board which
considers the release of convicts after they have served about a
third of their sentence.
Biggs' legal adviser, Giovanni Di Stefano, branded the decision
'perverse' and accused Straw of 'cruel and unusual punishment.'
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