Morning:
8°c
Timeline of Bigg's life since robbery
Ben Bailey7 Aug 2009
Here is a timetable charting Ronald Biggs' life since the Great Train Robbery:
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.
:: January 1964 - Biggs stands trial for the robbery and is jailed for 30 years.
:: July 7, 1965 - After serving just 15 months, he escapes from London's Wandsworth Prison by scaling a wall and jumping on to a mattress in an open-top van.
:: The same year Biggs took his wife Charmian and sons to Spain and spent two months convalescing after having plastic surgery in France to change his appearance.
:: 1969 - Biggs is tracked by Scotland Yard to Melbourne, Australia, and flees to Brazil.
:: 1970 - The mail train driver Jack Mills, who never made a full recovery after being coshed during the robbery, dies.
:: 1971 - Biggs' son Nicky dies in a car crash aged 10.
:: 1974 - Biggs makes a deal with the Daily Express amid rumours he would surrender if assured an early parole date, but the paper contacts detective Jack Slipper who arrests him in Rio de Janeiro. The train robber successfully argued against extradition because he had a Brazilian dependant, a young son Michael, by his girlfriend Raimunda.
:: April 1977 - Biggs goes aboard the British frigate Danae, in Rio for a courtesy visit, for a few drinks but surprisingly is not arrested.
:: 1978 - He records No One Is Innocent for the Sex Pistols and also raises money by selling T-shirts of himself and entertaining Japanese tourists.
:: March 1981 - Biggs is kidnapped in Rio by a gang of adventurers and smuggled to Barbados by boat. Their aim is to take him back to Britain. The Barbados High Court decides the rules governing extradition to Britain had not been properly put before the island's parliament, and Biggs is allowed to return to Rio.
:: 1988 - Pop star Phil Collins stars in Buster, a film based on the train robbery.
:: January 1994 - Biggs publishes his autobiography Odd Man Out.
:: 1997 - The Brazilian supreme court rejects a new request by the British Government to extradite him.
:: March 1998 - The fugitive collapses at his home in Rio, suffering a stroke which temporarily leaves him unable to speak.
:: August 8, 1999 - Biggs celebrates 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.
:: September 1999 - Biggs appears in a worldwide TV advert for hair grafts. In the same month he suffers his second stroke, followed by a third stroke 12 days later.
:: May 3, 2001 - After 35 years on the run, Ronnie Biggs sends an email to Scotland Yard saying he wanted to go home.
:: May 6, 2001 - The plane carrying Biggs takes off from Rio de Janeiro airport en route for the UK.
:: May 7, 2001 - Biggs arrives on a private plane at RAF Northolt, and is immediately arrested. He is later sent back to prison.
Within weeks Biggs was in hospital receiving treatment for a suspected stroke. He spent much of his time in the prison hospital at Belmarsh after suffering a series of heart attacks, strokes and epileptic seizures.
:: January 30, 2002 - The Criminal Cases Review Commission rejects an application to send Biggs' case to the Court of Appeal. He argued his sentence was inappropriate and unnecessary.
:: March 28, 2002 - Biggs' lawyers lodge papers at the High Court arguing his is an "exceptional case" and should be sent back to the Court of Appeal.
:: July 10, 2002 - Biggs marries Brazilian former samba dancer Raimunda Rothen, the mother of his son Michael, in a private ceremony at Belmarsh jail attended by 11 guests.
:: January 13, 2003 - Michael claims his father was punched and "karate kicked" by a prison officer in Belmarsh.
:: August 8, 2003 - 40th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery.
:: October 2, 2003 - Biggs' attempt to appeal against his sentence is thrown out by a High Court judge who calls it "hopeless" and "misconceived". His son Michael complains that his father was not given legal aid to fight the case and announces plans to go to the European Court of Human Rights.
:: August 2004 - Lawyers for the Great Train Robber launched a High Court bid to secure his release on compassionate grounds.
:: December 2005 - An appeal to home secretary Charles Clarke for a pardon is rejected.
:: July 2007 - Biggs is moved from Belmarsh high security prison in south east London to Norwich Prison, where he lives on a unit for elderly inmates.
:: April 2009 - Biggs applies for parole. He is eligible for release because he has served one third of his sentence. A final decision is delayed while arrangements are made for the 24-hour care he will require.
:: June 25, 2009 - A Parole Board recommends to Justice Secretary Jack Straw that Biggs be released, saying the risk of him reoffending is "manageable".
:: June 28, 2009 - Biggs is taken to hospital with a broken hip and a chest infection.
:: July 1, 2009 - Biggs is refused parole by Mr Straw, who accused the Great Train Robber of being "wholly unrepentant" about his crimes.
:: July 6, 2009 - Biggs' legal adviser Giovanni Di Stefano sends a photograph of Biggs lying bare-chested in his bed at Norwich Hospital to MPs. His son, Michael, says Biggs has pneumonia, plus fractures of the hip, pelvis and spine. Biggs is said to have suffered three strokes and cannot eat, speak or walk.
:: July 28 - Michael Biggs appeals to the Government to release his father on compassionate grounds after the criminal is re-admitted to hospital from prison with severe pneumonia.
:: August 6 - Mr Straw grants Biggs "compassionate release" from his prison sentence saying he is not expected to recover.
