'Great Train Robber' Ronnie Biggs dies aged 84
- 10 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
Ronnie Biggs, the British criminal who became infamous for his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, died on Wednesday at the age of 84, his spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said he died in the early hours of Wednesday morning. He had been living in a care home in north London in recent years.
Biggs gained notoriety 50 years ago as one of a gang that stopped a Royal Mail night train and made off with 2.6 million pounds ($4.2 million), equivalent to about 40 million pounds today.
He became the most famous of the gang after escaping from London's Wandsworth Prison, where he was serving a 30-year prison sentence, by scaling a wall with a rope ladder.
He spent 36 years on the run, mostly living in Brazil.
Biggs finally surrendered to British police in 2001 and returned to prison but was freed in 2009 on health grounds.
Most of the gang were caught and given prison sentences totalling more than 300 years after
Ronnie Biggs, the British criminal who became infamous for his role in the Great Train Robbery of 1963, died on Wednesday at the age of 84, his spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman said he died in the early hours of Wednesday morning. He had been living in a care home in north London in recent years.
Biggs gained notoriety 50 years ago as one of a gang that stopped a Royal Mail night train and made off with 2.6 million pounds ($4.2 million), equivalent to about 40 million pounds today.
He became the most famous of the gang after escaping from London's Wandsworth Prison, where he was serving a 30-year prison sentence, by scaling a wall with a rope ladder.
He spent 36 years on the run, mostly living in Brazil.
Biggs finally surrendered to British police in 2001 and returned to prison but was freed in 2009 on health grounds.
Most of the gang were caught and given prison sentences totalling more than 300 years after