Robber Ronnie Biggs 'to be freed from jail in July'
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Ronnie Biggs was yesterday recommended for early release from prison, and is likely to be freed in July.
Biggs, who was jailed for 30 years for his part in the £2.5m Great Train Robbery in 1964, had his case considered at a parole hearing. Documents presented to the panel said that, because of his ill health, he was suitable for release on licence and the risk of his re-offending was low. Biggs, 79, has suffered three strokes, can communicate only with the aid of an alphabet board and is fed through a tube in his stomach.
No formal decision was made but it is almost certain that the panel will recommend Biggs is released from the nursing wing at Norwich jail on 4 July, when he will have served a third of his sentence. He will need 24-hour care.
Biggs escaped from prison in 1965 and fled to Australia before settling in Brazil, where he lived for three decades. He returned to the UK in 2001.