Ronnie Biggs is dead.

[Johnuk123]

Ronald Arthur Biggs dies aged 84.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-12-18/notorious-great-train-robber-ronnie-biggs-dies-aged-84/

Ronald "Ronnie" Biggs became the most infamous member of the gang that committed the Great Train Robbery - one of the most notorious robberies in British criminal history.
In August 1963, a gang held up the Royal Mail travelling post office that ran between Glasgow and London, stealing £2.6 million.
Biggs was sentenced to 30 years in prison for his part in the heist. But he managed to escape after just 15 months.

He then fled to Brazil, where he lived for 30 years .Biggs found himself back behind bars when he agreed to voluntarily return to Britain in 2001.



Biggs was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds.

 

[Butts]

Ronald Arthur Biggs dies aged 84.

http://www.itv.com/news/update/2013-12-18/notorious-great-train-robber-ronnie-biggs-dies-aged-84/

Don't forget he also had a short lived musical career with The Sex Pistols in the seventies whilst in Brazil.

"Belsen was a gas" et al.

 

[IanD]

I think it's a publicity stunt for the TV drama tonight.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Let not the typical media-induced celebrity status mask the fact that he was nothing more than a criminal who chose the life of crime that led up to his involvement in a very large robbery. Many long-term prisoners in Britain were not treated to spending much of their incarceration time in the warmer climate of Brazil where there was no extradition treaty with Britain.

 

[Johnuk123]

Let not the typical media-induced celebrity status mask the fact that he was nothing more than a criminal who chose the life of crime that led up to his involvement in a very large robbery. Many long-term prisoners in Britain were not treated to spending much of their incarceration time in the warmer climate of Brazil where there was no extradition treaty with Britain.

Yes that's right, everybody has heard of him yet he was a very minor member of the team and just a simple career criminal.

 

[gordonthemoron]

terrible singer

 

[Monty]

Good riddance, one less scum bag to worry about.

 

[ianhr]

Good riddance, one less scum bag to worry about.

Agreed!, as far as I am aware he never showed a scrap of remorse for the innocent train driver who was seriously injured and died a few years later.

 

[theblackwatch]

Agreed!, as far as I am aware he never showed a scrap of remorse for the innocent train driver who was seriously injured and died a few years later.

I can't disagree with that. I do find it somewhat spooky that he has died just hours before a programme on the event is scheduled to be aired on BBC1.

 

[GatwickDepress]

A thug with fame. I suppose one could call him a twentieth century highwayman in so much that he and his crimes were often romanticised.

Poor Jack Mills...

 

[DarloRich]

Why on earth the media eulogise a cowardly criminal is beyond me.

 

[Johnny_w]

IT's a good news day.

Scumbag who robbed a train - dead.

Little girl gets reunited with her teddy bear left on a train at KGX.

JW

 

[455driver]

Good riddance, one less scum bag to worry about.

^^^Wot ee sed^^^

And then some!

 

[Bayum]

Surely the death of a human, regardless of past mistakes and convictions, is a sad event?

He served his time, he became very ill and now he's dead.

I'm very certain that many of you would be saddened to learn of people remembering your life for one bad event.

 

[Butts]

terrible singer

"Ronnie Biggs was doing time until he done a bunk...now he's says he's doing fine and he's sold his old soul for punk"

veritable classic

 

[ATW Alex 101]

Good job. Should have done him in for clobbering the poor train driver as well.

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

Why on earth the media eulogise a cowardly criminal is beyond me.

The eulogising platitudes heard on BBC Radio 4 this morning show that hypocrisy is still alive and well at Broadcasting House...

 

[swj99]

Get well soon Ronnie.

 

[Butts]

The eulogising platitudes heard on BBC Radio 4 this morning show that hypocrisy is still alive and well at Broadcasting House...

Think Dick Turpin and many others

 

[IanD]

Get well soon Ronnie.

Doctors have described his current condition as 'Satisfactory'.

 

[Johnuk123]

Good job. Should have done him in for clobbering the poor train driver as well.

The Police at the time interviewed the bloke who they are sure did it but couldn't get enough evidence to charge him so he was released.

One of the gang called Jim Hussey confessed just before he died that it was him but this is disputed.

Jack Mill's son has said his dad told him who coshed him and it wasn't Hussey but he refuses to say who it was for some strange reason.
Has he had a visit ?

Although Jack Mills was traumatised by the incident and never worked again he actually died of cancer 7 years later.

 

[bb21]

He served his time, he became very ill and now he's dead.

I think some people will dispute that.

I'm very certain that many of you would be saddened to learn of people remembering your life for one bad event.

But it wasn't as simple as one bad event was it? It was one of the most notorious crimes of the 20th century.

 

[IanD]

I'm very certain that many of you would be saddened to learn of people remembering your life for one bad event.

His whole reason d'etre seemed to be to remind people that he was involved in that 'one bad event' so it's hardly surprisng that's what people remember the tosser for. No remorse shown, no compassion merited.

 

[chris89]

The Police at the time interviewed the bloke who they are sure did it but couldn't get enough evidence to charge him so he was released.

One of the gang called Jim Hussey confessed just before he died that it was him but this is disputed.

Jack Mill's son has said his dad told him who coshed him and it wasn't Hussey but he refuses to say who it was for some strange reason.
Has he had a visit ?

Although Jack Mills was traumatised by the incident and never worked again he actually died of cancer 7 years later.

Good to see someone post that.

Wishing people good riddance for someone, dieing no matter what they have done is disrespectful. Mills Family might think different or might not.

Funny how that hasn't popped up like it did for Thatcher though. But hey just my POV, i was going to ignore the subject overall.

Chris

 

[Rugd1022]

Good job. Should have done him in for clobbering the poor train driver as well.

For what it's worth, Biggs was sitting in one of the two Landrovers with the retired driver (recruited to move the front portion of the train once it had been uncoupled from the other ten vehicles) when the first two gang members entered Jack Mills's cab and coshed him over the head.

 

[Monty]

But it wasn't as simple as one bad event was it? It was one of the most notorious crimes of the 20th century.

It wasn't his first 'job' either, he was booted out of the RAF for thieving and had taken part in at least one robbery before the one he was well known for. Some would almost call that habitual, I have no love lost over this individual and that fact he has shown absolutely no remorse for his actions just goes to show you the selfish and cruel man he was.

 

[Greenback]

It wasn't his first 'job' either, he was booted out of the RAF for thieving and had taken part in at least one robbery before the one he was well known for. Some would almost call that habitual, I have no love lost over this individual and that fact he has shown absolutely no remorse for his actions just goes to show you the selfish and cruel man he was.

He was an habitual petty criminal. From what I've read, yes, he could be selfish and cruel, but eh could also be charming.

Some people may think that his escape and life on the run in Brazil to be romantic, but I'm not one of them.

At the end of the day, he was a notorious public figure, so his death is newsworthy, but I won;t be mourning his passing.

 

[40135]

I think it's fair to remember him as a character, but to abstain from eulogising him. I think there are worse than him, but he was never a shining example of humanity.

The robbery was just so fantastic (I use the word in its original meaning) that it has become ingrained, and transformed into something altogether more legendary.

 

[Whistlekiller]

He served his time

No he didn't. Where on earth did you get that from? :roll:

 

[DarloRich]

He served his time

Did he?

That part where he went over the wall and on the run only coming back to the UK when he needed free health care doesn't, unfortunately, count as serving your time!