Unrepentant Great Train Robber Biggs will die in jail

LONDON - Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has been refused parole for being unrepentant about his crime, making it almost certain he will die in prison.

The Parole Board, which met last month to discuss Biggs' case, had recommended his release. But Britain's Justice Secretary, Jack Straw, yesterday said that he would not grant Biggs his freedom.

The decision is based not on the risk that he will offend again - Biggs has had three strokes, he cannot speak and needs to be fed through a tube - but, in Straw's words, because he is "wholly unrepentant" for his part in the crime that took place 46 years ago.

A statement released by the Justice Secretary said: "Mr Biggs chose to serve only one year of a 30-year sentence before he took the personal decision to commit another offence and escape from prison, avoiding capture by travelling abroad for 35 years while outrageously courting the media. Had he complied with his sentence, he would have been a free man many years ago."

Biggs was eligible for release tomorrow as he will have served 10 years of his 30-year sentence. And, after the Parole Board's recommendation, it was widely expected he would be freed. A care home was found near his son Michael in north London.

Such was the belief that Biggs, 79, would be released that some news outlets yesterday reported that he was to be freed before Straw issued his statement.

Straw continued: "Biggs chose not to obey the law and respect the punishments given to him ... it was Mr Biggs' own choice to offend and he now appears to want to avoid the consequences of his decision. I do not think this is acceptable. Mr Biggs is wholly unrepentant ... and does not regret his offending."

Biggs's legal adviser, Giovanni Di Stefano, attacked the decision as perverse. He said: "All the other Great Train Robbers served a third of their sentences, why should Ronnie Biggs be any different? Ten years is enough."

- INDEPENDENT