Ronnie Biggs a true British hero

[The Uninvited Guest]

Was it Biggs who hit him over the head?

 

[Psychobilly freakout]

Harry Patch was a Hero

Ronnie Biggs was a thief

The END

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Jack Mills was murdered in this heist.

No he wasn't. He died TWELVE years later, of something completely unrelated.

Compared to some of the pure evil crimes committed by utter utter trash nowadays, the treatment of Ronnie Biggs is nothing short of inhuman.

He's been made an example of by successive Home Secretaries acting out the establishment standards of fifty years ago. IMHO his son has a good case for suing the pants off each and every one of them.

 

[Storer68]

On a different tangent, I see his "lawyer" is Giovanni di Stefano. Makes sense, I guess. Can we have a barny about him, instead?

His dad was a bloody good player for Real Madirid in the 1960s

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

His dad was a bloody good player for Real Madirid in the 1960s

Me dad went to that classic European Cup Final at Hampden Park in Glasgow in 1960. Real Madrid 7 Eintracht 3. Stunning match apparently. And that was in the days of BIG crowds at Hampden.

 

[Storer68]

On a different tangent, I see his "lawyer" is Giovanni di Stefano. Makes sense, I guess. Can we have a barny about him, instead?

His dad was a bloody good player for Real Madirid in the 1960s

 

[Storer68]

He came from my home town (Redhill) and a lot of his famlily still live in the area, i went to school with three of his relatives and they were all good people.
He made a massive mistake and took an innocent persons life (effectivly) but for the sake of his family he should be allowed to die with his close ones around him.
It was forty years ago!

actually no one knows who bashed the driver.

Biggs involvement seems to revolve around the recruitment of the "tame" train driver. During the actual robbery it is said that the was left in the end carriage having a quite fag

 

[Seagull Stew]

Here's something that has always puzzled me and wondered if anyone had an answer.

For the most part, the usual (how shall I put this) 'sun newspaper' reading community in the UK are very vocal when it comes to how the country should treat criminals. "Lock 'em up and throw away the key" is something that you'll hear alot.

However, when that criminal is a member of a gang and also happens to be a cockney then all of a sudden their crimes are forgiven and they become loveable cheeky chappies, (Biggs, the Krays etc.)

They'll also bang on about how paedophiles get a certain length jail sentence and Biggs gets another and compare the two, almost as if saying "Ronnie Biggs shouldn't be imprisoned because he didn't molest any children!" Where is the relevance?


If anyone knows why this odd phenomenon exists then can they please explain it to me?

 

[beorhthelm]

If anyone knows why this odd phenomenon exists then can they please explain it to me?

well my take is that Fleet Street, or rather Wapping where the actual printing plant used to be, was filled with cockerny workers who looked up to these people as those who got away with it and lived the life. I imagine if you'd tried writing anything bad about the likes of the Krays, the presses wouldn't have run, and that has persisted beyond their era. Brinks Matt robbers and more recent gangs have not had such an easy ride.

i sympathise with the "loveable rouge" image, i can see the romance of the man on the run. i can even see the view that the train robbers where harshly punished relative to the crime.

however, they were at the end of the day criminals. i think those that call them "heros" are complete wankers who devalue those who actually carry out acts of heroism.

 

[Dr Q]

The fact that he lorded it up in Rio, sticking two fingers up at the British establishment and its majority of law abiding citizens means he gets no sympathy from me. Hope his last few days are sh*te

 

[eastlondonseagull]

Actually, he died of leukaemia in 1970.

Quite. Nobody was murdered in the heist, though it is thought that that bloke's life was irreparably ruined by it.

I met Biggs' son about five years ago, interviewed him for ZOO, and he seemed a decent enough bloke. And seeing as murderers, rapists and the nastiest criminals out there often get shorter sentences than Biggs, maybe it's right that he's been allowed out to die with his family...

.

 

[blue'n'white]

My Dad was a copper in Redhill and nicked Ronnie Biggs a few times. He was a petty criminal who got caught up in something that was bigger than any of the protagonists realised.
The definitions of crime have changed - if it were to happen now I doubt that the train robbers would have got 30 years. Having said that i think that the successive Home Secs who have vowed to keep Biggs in jail were merely repaying his two fingers up to them with two fingers up to him. Being as how Biggs is hardly likely to go on a one man crime wave now and the fact that he's (probably) only got a few days to live it shows some measure of sense to let him out now so he doesn't die a "martyr" but it still leaves a nasty taste in the mouth. There again - look at Ernest Saunders who effectively got away with his crimes by pleading Alzheimers and being "let off" or Lord Brocket. Both of these probably ruined more people than the train robbers but we have a different attitude to white collar crime seeing it as more "noble" than a common thief.
Strange country where we fete criminals and minor celebrities . . .

 

[clapham_gull]

No he wasn't. He died TWELVE years later, of something completely unrelated.

Compared to some of the pure evil crimes committed by utter utter trash nowadays, the treatment of Ronnie Biggs is nothing short of inhuman.

He's been made an example of by successive Home Secretaries acting out the establishment standards of fifty years ago. IMHO his son has a good case for suing the pants off each and every one of them.

That's rubbish actually. Quite how his son could sue the Goverment is anyone's guess but yours.

Biggs could have returned years ago, done his time and been released.

He decided not to, came back in old age when it was only choice and faced the "consequences".

The "consequences" being given first class care by the NHS, spending a few years in as a "prisoner" and being released towards the end of his life.

 

[beorhthelm]

Strange country where we fete criminals and minor celebrities . . .

all countries do this, love their scoundrels and rogues, those get away with it with charm. thats essentially what its about, charisma, as long as you dont actually kill people (and even then you can if its for the right "cause").

 

[8ace]

You are right in that he never recovered from the trauma of the robbery but his actual death was by leukaemia and the verdict at his inquest was that this was unrelated to the robbery. Tragic but it is better not to let urban myth get in the way of the facts. Either way, Biggs should rot in jail.

Too right, let the cunt f***ing rot.

 

[Cantona's Flying Dropkick]

R Biggs - hero to the criminal class.

 

[GT49er]

He never recovered from being hit over ther head with an iron bar during the robbery., whilst due to the time being hit and him dying it could not be tried as murder it was a contributiing factor to his death. As in, had he not been hit on the head with an iron bar, he would not have died of his condition. this from the medical experts at the time.

Quite. After never missing a day's work in his life, he never again recovered sufficiently to return to work. Effectively his life was over once Biggs and his equally despicable cronies had finished with him. Biggs hasn't served his time yet - he scived off most of it - so time to lock him up now to finish it. Better still, send the scrounging bastard back to Brazil without passport, money or NHS healthcare and let him rot.

 

[Easy 10]

I could not agree more.

 

[Silent Bob]

I have no strong feelings one way or the other.

 

[Easy 10]

I do.
I've had several heated arguments in REAL LIFE over it. The missus got the right hump the other night when I was shouting at the telly when it was on the news.