Funeral of Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs held at Golders Green Crematorium

 
Passed away: Ronnie Biggs, left on a lilo in Rio de Janeiro in 1989 and right in a police mugshot
3 January 2014

The funeral of Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs was held today.

Biggs, who gained notoriety for spending 36 years on the run after escaping prison, died last month at 84.

The world-renowned robber had been cared for at Carlton Court Care Home in East Barnet, north London, after suffering several strokes in recent years. He was last seen in public last March at the funeral of fellow robber Bruce Reynolds.

Biggs was released from prison in 2009 on compassionate grounds due to ill health, despite being re-arrested in 2001 after evading the authorities since his first escape from Wandsworth Prison in 1965.

At the time of his escape, Biggs had served just 15 months of the 30-year sentence he was handed for his part in the robbery of a Royal Mail freight train between London and Glasgow on August 8, 1963.

Speaking last year, he said he was proud to have been part of the gang behind the robbery, which saw 15 men escape with a record haul of £2.6 million - the equivalent of about £46 million today.

For many, the glamour of the crime was overshadowed by the brutal attack on the train's driver, however. Jack Mills, who was coshed, reportedly by Biggs, never fully recovered from the ordeal and died a few years later.

Biggs' funeral took place at Golders Green Crematorium, north London, this afternoon.

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