 |
CATEGORIES | TV | RADIO | COMMUNICATE | WHERE I LIVE | INDEX |  |
SEARCH | |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
|
You are in: UK: England | |||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
Thursday, 28 March, 2002, 15:52 GMT
Biggs' son challenges sentence
Ronnie Biggs cannot speak after a series of strokes
The son of Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has taken his fight to get his father released to the High Court.
Michael Biggs is challenging a decision by the Criminal Cases Review Commission not to allow his father to appeal against his 30-year sentence. The 72-year-old robber's health has been described as "precarious", having suffered a number of strokes since his arrival. He is being treated in the hospital wing at Belmarsh Prison in south east London. 'Harsh sentence' Biggs was one of a gang that robbed a Glasgow-to-London mail train in 1963, escaping with �2.6m ($3.71m). He was caught and convicted but escaped from Wandsworth Prison in 1965. His lawyers contend that his sentence was too harsh and "disproportionate" given the minor role he played in the robbery when compared with the sentences received by other members of the gang. They contrasted the "enormous disparity" between his sentence and the 15-year jail term given to Buster Edwards.
He led a life as a fugitive in Australia and Brazil, but returned to Britain and prison in May 2001 as his health began to fail. Speaking outside the court, Michael Biggs said: "My father has been a law-abiding man for over 30 years, but the current court system no longer seems to give any weight to this. "On behalf of my father, I will continue to fight for his early release. "I will continue with my efforts to ensure that he is dealt with as humanely as possible. "He will not re-offend, he cannot re-offend, we can say this with absolute certainty. Immigration appeal "In any circumstances let alone these, for my father, a man who has not committed any offence for 37 years, to remain in a high security prison is both morally and legally wrong." Michael Biggs, who is a Brazilian citizen, is fighting his own legal battle to try to stay in Britain. He is appealing against a Home Office ruling refusing him permission to stay. He says he must be allowed to remain because nobody else can understand his sick father. He has claimed he can only speak in a series of grunts.
|
|
See also:
 Internet links:
The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top England stories now:
Links to more England stories are at the foot of the page.
|
|||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more England stories
|
 |
|
^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII | News Sources | Privacy 
|
E-mail this story to a friend