Ronnie Biggs Great Train Robber, dies aged 84 [View all]

[malaise]

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/18/ronnie-biggs-great-train-robber-dies-84?CMP=fb_gu
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The Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, the most well-known member of a gang that made off with £2.6m from a Glasgow to London mail train, has died at the age of 84. Biggs was caught after the robbery and received a 30-year jail sentence but escaped from Wandsworth prison and spent 36 years on the run, leading a playboy lifestyle in South America.

He finally surrendered to British police in 2001 but was freed in 2009 on health grounds. He had been ill for some time and had suffered a series of strokes.

Biggs died on the day the BBC was due to broadcast the first part of a two-part TV dramatisation of the robbery. The first part, a Robber's Tale, focuses on Bruce Reynolds, the leader of gang who died earlier this year. The second, A Copper's Tale, tells the story of Tommy Butler, the detective chief superintendent who pursued them.