Jack Straw has refused to grant parole to Ronnie Biggs, one of the Great Train Robbers, despite a care home being lined up for him to stay in after his release.
After a huge row over financing, the local authority in Barnet, North London, agreed to foot the bill for his round the clock care.
But today the Justice Secretary informed the robber that he would not be sanctioning his release despite the recommendation of the Parole Board.
Mr Straw said that Biggs had flouted the law and needed to be punished.
The decision has shocked Giovanni di Stefano, who represents Biggs, who fully expected his client to be released to the care home.
He said: “It is cruel and unusual punishment for him not to be released”.
In a statement Mr Straw said: “I have informed Mr Ronald Biggs today of my decision regarding his parole.
“Mr Biggs chose to serve only one year of a 30-year sentence before he took the personal decision to commit another offence and escape from prison, avoiding capture by travelling abroad for 35 years whilst outrageously courting the media. Had he complied with his sentence, he would have been a free man many years ago.
“I am refusing the Parole Board’s recommendation for parole. Biggs chose not to obey the law and respect the punishments given to him – the legal system in this country deserves more respect than this. It was Mr Biggs’s own choice to offend and he now appears to want to avoid the consequences of his decision. I do not think this is acceptable.”
He added: “Mr Biggs is wholly unrepentant and the Parole Board found his propensity to breach trust a very significant factor. He has not undertaken risk related work and does not regret his offending.”
Biggs is currently recovering in the Norfolk and Norwich University hospital after breaking his hip in a fall at the weekend at Norwich prison.
Three prison guards keep a 24-hour watch on the 79-year-old who was injured when he fell from his bed in prison at the weekend. Doctors want to operate but fear that he would not survive the procedure. He is likely to be in hospital for several more weeks.
Biggs, who will be 80 in August, has suffered a series of strokes and is unable to speak. He communicates through gestures and by spelling out words with an alphabet board. He is fed through a tube in the stomach and can walk only a few steps unaided.
Negotiations have been taking place to decide who will pay for his round-the-clock medical care and it is believed that Barnet Primary Care Trust has agreed to cover the cost.
The Times reported in April that the probation officer overseeing Biggs had recommended his early release. He has served ten years of the 30-year jail term imposed in 1964 for his part in the £2.5 million — £40 million at today’s prices — robbery of the Glasgow to London mail train.
Documents seen by The Times show that the officer recommended release even though she believed he had no regrets about his life.
The probation officer’s report said that he was suitable for early release on parole licence as long as he had a care package to manage his health needs.
The document notes that Biggs has in the past sought to play on his celebrity status, which could lead to an issue of risk management on his release.
Source:The times
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