Britain's most notorious villain is dead: Ronnie Biggs dies in a London care home

Daily Mail US Edition ^ | 12/18/13 | Hugo Gye and James Rush

[raccoonradio]

Britain's most notorious villain is dead: Exactly 50 years after the Great Train Robbery and just hours before BBC drama tells story of his infamous heist, Ronnie Biggs dies in a London care home

Legendary criminal dies at North London home at the age of 84

He had been in poor health since returning to Britain from Brazil in 2001

Found fame as he taunted the authorities during his decades on the run
Biggs was part of the gang which targeted a train in 1963 and made off with £2.6million in cash - worth £40million today

[raccoonradio]

Biggs, living in Brazil, recorded the singles "No One is Innocent" and "Belsen is a Gas" with the Sex Pistols. The former hit #6 on the UK charts but was not released by the band's US label, Warner Bros. "Belsen" was based on writings by Sid Vicious I believe ("in the open graves where the Jews all lay"--pretty offensive song but hey it was the Sex Pistols...so you'd expect that from them)

[Dr. Ursus]

The authorities got even; they sentenced to death by NIH.

[raccoonradio]

One of the robbers was Buster Roberts--subject of a film, "Buster" starring Phil Collins IIRC.

>>No guns were used, but driver Jack Mills was coshed and left unconscious by an unidentified assailant, suffered constant headaches for the rest of his life and died in 1970 from leukaemia.
Two of the robbers, Charlie Wilson and Biggs, escaped from Wandsworth Prison within two years of being jailed - Biggs scaled a wall with a rope ladder. Biggs then spent 36 years on the run, living mainly in Brazil where he would taunt the British police and boast about his notoriety to unsuspecting tourists.
Pic from BBC drama

>>On July 8, 1965, he made a daring escape from Wandsworth prison. While other prisoners created a diversion in the exercise yard, Biggs scaled a wall with a rope ladder and dropped onto a furniture van parked alongside. After a brief stopover in Paris for £40,000 worth of plastic surgery to change his appearance, he travelled to Australia, entering the country on a false passport using an assumed name.

Buster Edwards:
>>Killed himself in 1994 at the age of 62. He was played by singer Phil Collins in the 1988 film Buster.

[P-Marlowe]

Britain’s most notorious villain?

I didn’t know Jack the Ripper had been demoted.

[Sherman Logan]

Eggzackly.

Some of their other serial killers should outrank this guy too, by any reasonable standard.

[Red Badger]

I didn’t know Jack the Ripper had been demoted.

Yeah, he was given a government job as Chief Surgeon of the NIH..................

[Lonesome in Massachussets]

I think in Britain the word “villain” carries a somewhat mild connotation, like, “scoundrel”, or “rascal”. We wouldn’t call Richard Speck a “villain”, more a monster or a fiend.