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| Biggs sentence appeal refused Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs will not have his case referred back to the Court of Appeal to have his sentence reduced. The 72-year-old is serving his 30-year sentence in the top security Belmarsh Prison in south-east London after spending 36 years on the run. Lawyers for Biggs, who is in poor health, are understood to have argued that he played a "minor" role in the Great Train Robbery and his sentence was therefore "disproportionate". But the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC), which has been reviewing the case, has announced it sees no reason why the Appeal Court would find the original sentence imposed excessive. Ronnie Biggs's son Michael said he was "devastated" by the decision, adding: "How can they say that there are no exceptional circumstances? "How many train robbers who have been honest for 35 years, and who are desperately ill, do they have?" Biggs returned to the UK from Brazil in May last year for the first time since he escaped from Wandsworth Prison in south west London in 1965 after serving just 15 months. He was sentenced to 25 years for conspiracy and 30 years for robbery for his part in the violent theft of £2.6m from a Glasgow to London mail train in 1963. Since returning to prison, Biggs has suffered a number of strokes and is being held in a medical wing at Belmarsh. Under the sentence review, his health would have no bearing on the decision on whether his case was referred to the Court of Appeal. Michael Biggs, 27, has called the sentence "draconian", and on Wednesday he said: "Thirty years for a robbery, when you can kill someone and only get two years, just doesn't make sense, especially when another robber only got 15 years two years later." He added: "But I can't give up on my dad. I won't give up on him. He's everything to me and I'm going to do all I can for him." In the robbery, train driver Jack Mills, 57, was coshed with an iron bar during the robbery and never returned to work. He died in 1970. His son John said that Biggs' sentence should stay at 30 years. "All the others had to do their time and so should he," he said. Director of the Victims of Crime Trust, Norman Brennan, said he had no sympathy for Biggs. He added: "Despite his age, illness and dementia, Ronnie Biggs avoided serving his sentence for what was one of the most serious crimes of the last century. "Having lived his prime years a free man when he should have been in custody, and cocking a snook at the British criminal justice system at every opportunity." 30th January 2002 |
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