Son of Ronnie Biggs is granted British citizenship
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Your support makes all the difference.Michael Biggs, the son of Great Train robber Ronnie Biggs, has been granted British citizenship following the marriage of his parents.
Michael, 27, was given a British passport two weeks after his father married Raimunda Rothen, at Belmarsh prison in south-east London on 10 July, it was announced yesterday.
Last year, the Home Office refused a passport to Michael, who complained that the decision infringed his human rights.
He said the greatest advantage of getting British citizenship was that he could now travel freely between his family in Brazil and Britain to visit his 73-year-old father, who has suffered three strokes.
Michael told BBC Radio Five Live: "Once they got married I was allowed to get my citizenship. My father had asked my mother to get married on a few occasions, but we just didn't think it was appropriate at the time. It was something they wanted to do a few years ago, and wanted to do last year."
He added: "When we saw there was absolutely no way out – that I was going to get kicked out of the country – I spoke to my mum and dad and said 'This is the time. Regardless of that it will look bad it will help my situation'."
He also repeated his criticisms of the authorities' decision to keep his father in jail. "He has had three strokes. He can't speak. He can't walk properly. He needs aid to bathe and clothe himself," he said.
The Home Office refused Michael Biggs British citizenship last year and the Immigration Adjudicator upheld that decision in December. In March this year he launched a fresh appeal at the Immigration Appeal Tribunal, saying: "My only crime is to love my Dad."
The Home Office was forced to review the situation in the light of his parents' wedding, which Michael Biggs attended with his girlfriend Veronica and their two-year-old daughter Ingrid. Raimunda, 54, who was living in Switzerland, had visited Ronnie Biggs several times in prison. Biggs returned to Britain from Brazil in May last year to serve the rest of his 30-year sentence for the Great Train Robbery in 1963.
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