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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to not feel any compassion for Ronnie Biggs?

175 replies

wannaBe · 07/08/2009 09:37

If he hadn't done a runner to Brazil he would have served his sentence by now and would have been out by now anyway.

The only reason he came back was to receive treatment on the nhs.

Why on earth should a man who has committed a crime, has evaded capture for 30 years be set free?

OP posts:
claricebeansmum · 07/08/2009 09:40

I was when I heard this morning. He still has a sentence to serve. Is there now a rule that no convicted felons can die in jail?

MitchyInge · 07/08/2009 09:42

awww, he's old and infirm now

yabu!

girlsyearapart · 07/08/2009 09:51

Nope he hit someone over the head with an iron bar then lived the life of Riley before he decided he quite fancied some free NHS treatment. YANBU

MorningTownRide · 07/08/2009 09:53

YANBU - agree with claricebeansmum too.

He has never shown any remorse and should die in jail.

windywendy · 07/08/2009 09:53

YANBU - I feel exactly the same. He got everything he wanted, when he wanted and has never shown any remorse.

LIZS · 07/08/2009 09:55

agree . It isn't as if he went quietly either . He milked his infamy and flaunted it in the face of the victims' families. tbh I don't know how he qualifies for nhs trestemtn (I doubt he has paid any ni or uk tax for many years) as many expats coming back donlt automatically. Presumably it is because he was in a uk prison for a while.

Original poster
wannaBe · 07/08/2009 09:57

mitchy but had he actually served a sentence for the crime he committed he would have been free by now.

But instead he chose to live it up in Brazil, openly flaunting the fact that he could not be extradited, and only returned to the UK because he wanted treatment from the NHS.

The fact he should be spending his last days as a prisoner is a choice he has made through his previous actions.

The man is not a hero - he is a violent criminal who failed to pay the price for his crime.

OP posts:
MorningTownRide · 07/08/2009 09:59

What annoys me is how they say 'We only coshed the train driver'

Well I know from an eye witness that he was in a very bad way.

Nancy66 · 07/08/2009 10:00

YANBU - hate the way he's been reinvented as some cuddly, cockney, cheeky wide boy. He committed a cowardly and violent crime that led to the death of an innocent man and devastated a family.

mosschops30 · 07/08/2009 10:02

I agree, should be left in prison along with other bloke (Lockerbie bomber) who also seems to have a get out of jail free card due to illness!!
The justice systen would make you laugh if it wasnt so fucking tragic (Aspergers bloke for example)

KingRolo · 07/08/2009 10:05

Yanbu.

Let's reserve our compassion for people who really do deserve it. Like the victims of crime.

ilovemydogandmrobama · 07/08/2009 10:05

Thing is, he isn't exactly 'free' though is he? Isn't he stuck in a hospital bed?

minxofmancunia · 07/08/2009 10:08

YANBU, it's done my head in a bit as well. His infamy no doubt has something to do with it.

As for being "old and infirm" plenty of violent criminals die in custody either special hospitals or prison.

MummyDoIt · 07/08/2009 10:13

YANBU. However, I guess the only good thing is that the taxpayer is no longer paying for prison guards at his bedside as well as health care.

beanieb · 07/08/2009 10:15

let's not forget that Biggs was only one of a 15 strong gang and in no way the leader. He was also not the one who coshed the driver and Ronnie Biggs was actually only used to help load the mailbags. The original sentence of 30 years is rather harsh don't you think? Fair enough, he escaped and was on the run for a very long time but that kind of sentence wouldn't even be given to a murderer.

southeastastra · 07/08/2009 10:18

here we go again, poor bloke has days to live, can we not just have a little compassion for his family at this time?

MorningTownRide · 07/08/2009 10:19

Oh that makes it alright then

LIZS · 07/08/2009 10:19

but didn't he have days to live when he came back to UK custody

Tamarto · 07/08/2009 10:20

Well said beanieb

edam · 07/08/2009 10:21

I think that's why the Great Train Robbers became folk heroes in a sense - people were outraged by the sentences, especially as there had been some violent crimes against children at the time where the perpetrators got far shorter sentences.

But the only reason they weren't charged with murder was that the poor train driver took too long to die. He was coshed with an iron bar and left terribly injured. My father used to have to visit him, when he (father) was starting out with British Rail. Really affected him.

Biggs was no innocent - there is such a thing as joint enterprise. He chose to go with the gang, he chose to be there, and he must have known perfectly well they were armed and dangerous.

ilovemydogandmrobama · 07/08/2009 10:21

In practical terms what does his release mean?

He is already bed ridden, isn't he?

greensnail · 07/08/2009 10:21

I think they've only done it for financial reasons. He's going to die in hospital whether he's still a prisoner or not - this way they don't need to pay a prison guard to sit by his bed anymore.

Lemonylemon · 07/08/2009 10:21

"here we go again, poor bloke has days to live, can we not just have a little compassion for his family at this time?"

What? Like the compassion he showed for the train driver's family? Didn't Biggs say "it was only a tap on the head"? And wasn't this only months ago that he said it?

edam · 07/08/2009 10:22

FWIW, I felt far less strongly about Buster Edwards. Because he'd served his sentence, come out and gone back to work. Used to see his flower stall when I went through Waterloo every day.

beanieb · 07/08/2009 10:22

edam... the train driver didn't die as a result of his injuries. he died of Leukemia.

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