Sins of father impose lifetime penalty on son

Ronnie Biggs's role in the Great Train Robbery 42 years ago has dominated the life of his son Michael, now 36, since before he was born.

The fact that Biggs's girlfriend, Raimunda, was pregnant with Michael enabled Ronnie to remain in Brazil when he was on the verge of being returned to a British prison in 1974 after his escape nine years earlier.

Eight years ago, when his father decided to return to a British prison cell after 36 years on the run, Michael sacrificed his life in Brazil as a father, husband and highly successful musician who ran his own studio, and moved to a small rented flat in London.

Separated from his young family, who didn't join him until three years later, he dedicated his life to freeing his father.

Last week Ronnie would have been released, had not the Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, refused him parole. Now Michael is again putting his own life on hold to step up his struggle for his father to die a free man.

Ronnie Biggs' health is deteriorating and last week he was moved from jail to a hospital in Norwich.

"I regret allowing my father to persuade me to bring him back every second of my life," Michael said. "When dad made up his mind to come home, he was in the depths of a depression that had already caused him to attempt suicide.

"When he couldn't speak and barely walk, all he did was beg me, on his alphabet board, to take him back to England. In the end, I didn't have a choice."

It was also Michael who came to Ronnie's rescue nearly 30 years earlier. When his father was kidnapped in 1981 and held for 40 days, the little boy went on television to plead for his return.

The child's distress was understandable; father and son had been inseparable since Raimunda had walked out when Michael was 11 months old, leaving the Great Train Robber to wash Michael's nappies, make up his bottles of milk and read his bedtime stories.

"He was my father, mother, friend, teacher," said Michael said. "We were, and are, very, very close."

Michael's emotional TV appeal was spotted by the head of CBS Records in Brazil. Within months of Biggs's safe return, the boy was signed up for The Magic Balloon Gang, a children's pop group which had its own television show and sold huge numbers of records in South America. From the ages of 6 to 13, Michael toured with the group.

"By 13, I had done everything a 17-year-old had done," he said. "My dad was very proud."

By his early teens, the magic was gone and the band dissolved. But Michael and his father remained close. Together, they bought a house, a yacht, a restaurant, a disco - and even a private island.

At 21, with the money gone, Michael opened three music studios and began building a new future. Then his father had the first of his two strokes.

"It was left up to me to finance the extremely expensive life we had been leading," said Michael. "I sold the studios and gave it up."

Back on the road as a stage manager, Michael met his wife, Veronica. In January 2000, the couple had a daughter, Ingrid. Michael admits his father remains the key figure in his life.

"When I came to England with dad, I almost lost my wife. I'm torn between my family and my father. But, ultimately, she understands."

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