r. biggs.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Taggy

Hopefully the family will have to pay for the burial too!!....How long before the Son has a book out???

Best Regards - Taggy

At least there's one ot two sad saps on here who'll probably buy a copy.

[BERNADETTE]

[quote=Royboy39;734369]

Originally Posted by garinda

If that's the case, and there's nothing constructive you can add to the discussion, it seems a bit of a waste of time bothering to post.[/quote

That being the case, RIP Garinda and R Biggs, and let the man die with dignanty and in peace.......unless you have other ideas?

Not a very nice thing to post is it?

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by garinda

We seem to have a generation divide on this one.

The old codgers seem to be misty eyed about old Ronnie, whilst those of us too young to remember seem to have more sypmathy with the victim, rather than those that chose violent crime as a career.

The old codgers probably have a longer lifespan than the young codgers....and more knowledge. Carry on in your quest to be the font and maybe you will stumblle by the wayside.

[Taggy]

Originally Posted by Royboy39

The old codgers probably have a longer lifespan than the young codgers....and more knowledge. Carry on in your quest to be the font and maybe you will stumblle by the wayside.

Pity Biggs didn't put his knowledge to better use then!

Best Regards - Taggy

[BERNADETTE]

Originally Posted by Taggy

Pity Biggs didn't put his knowledge to better use then!

Best Regards - Taggy

Well said, he is made out to be some sort of hero when what he and that gang did was far from heroic

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by Taggy

Pity Biggs didn't put his knowledge to better use then!

Best Regards - Taggy

Agree Taggy but is he killing our troops in Afghanstan?

[Royboy39]

Originally Posted by garinda

At least there's one ot two sad saps on here who'll probably buy a copy.

Would that be you by any chance ?

[Taggy]

Originally Posted by Royboy39

Agree Taggy but is he killing our troops in Afghanstan?

Obviously not Royboy, and on that score i'd get our troops out of there at the first opportunity, not a war i've believed in from the start.

The thing with Biggs Roy is that whilst the intial sentance handed out was perhaps a bit longer than it could have been. He never served, or attempted to serve the sentance, and never showed any remorse afterwards, which some of the others who did serve the time did. He would have got out just as soon as they did if he hadn't broken out, and perhaps he could have shown people then that he was capable of turning over a new leaf. Buster Edwards for example used to run a flower stall at Waterloo Station for many years! But Biggs just gloated in his notorieity and stuck two fingers up at the justice system and also the rest of the British Public really!

Best Regards - Taggy

[cashman]

Originally Posted by garinda

We seem to have a generation divide on this one.

The old codgers seem to be misty eyed about old Ronnie, whilst those of us too young to remember seem to have more sypmathy with the victim, rather than those that chose violent crime as a career.

i'm certainly not misty eyed about biggs he was a career criminal simple as! my point is simple the sentences the train robbers got where well out of kelter wi what was the order of the day fer murderers n other serious crimes, i have already stated the reason fer it, you young uns seem too misty eyed to grasp that. n as far the argument about the postcode lottery fer treatment thats summat i have gone through personally, n also summat far worse at the same time, it makes no differance to my view about those sentences it didn't back in 60s n it don't now.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by Taggy

He never served, or attempted to serve the sentance, and never showed any remorse afterwards, which some of the others who did serve the time did.

The longest sentence any of them served was ten years. Meaning that Biggs could have been freed by the mid seventies, if he'd have knuckled down, served his sentence, and shown the slightest remorse.

I'll mention again that as recently as a few months ago he said in an interview he felt no remorse, and that by not doing so it somehow added to his noteriety.

You do the crime, and you do the time, if that's how you chose to live your life.

I think they were probably lucky. People have died from less severe attacks than being coshed on the head with an iron bar. A few years earlier, and only down to luck that the train driver didn't die, they could have been facing the gallows.

We all have to live with the consequences of our actions.

For those unwilling to work decently and legally, providing for their families, and for society in general, via the paying of tax to fund the welfare system, they must face the consequences that crime doesn't always pay.

Although the tax other people have paid will provide the medical care to prolong your life when you're ill, and you've spent all the proceeds of your criminal career.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by cashman

i'm certainly not misty eyed about biggs he was a career criminal simple as! my point is simple the sentences the train robbers got where well out of kelter wi what was the order of the day fer murderers n other serious crimes, i have already stated the reason fer it, you young uns seem too misty eyed to grasp that. n as far the argument about the postcode lottery fer treatment thats summat i have gone through personally, n also summat far worse at the same time, it makes no differance to my view about those sentences it didn't back in 60s n it don't now.

As stated none of them served longer than ten years in clink.

Also they knew the severity of the sentences that might be dealt to them if they were caught, when they planned their crime.

You've already stated that the sentences were harsher because it was public money, a fact they'd also have known at the time, yet they still went ahead with it.

Hitting someone with an iron bar isn't an exact science. They, as well as the driver were lucky he wasn't killed, and the sentences harsher still.

[junetta]

With hindsight I expect he would agree with you Rindy. I might be one of those 'oldies' who looks at it differently but he was a fairly young man at the time and thirty years in prison must have seemed such a long road to go down.

I was only fifteen or so at the time and remember watching the news and comparing it to 'Bonanza' or some such programme we watched in those days. It was even more exciting when he escaped.

All in all, it isn't going to matter a damn in the end as he will never leave his hospital bed alive and he's suffered in his own way for years.

I so wish we had internet when Bonnie and Clyde ran amok..........what a good thread that would have been!

June x

[garinda]

Originally Posted by junetta

With hindsight I expect he would agree with you Rindy. I might be one of those 'oldies' who looks at it differently but he was a fairly young man at the time and thirty years in prison must have seemed such a long road to go down.

I was only fifteen or so at the time and remember watching the news and comparing it to 'Bonanza' or some such programme we watched in those days. It was even more exciting when he escaped.

All in all, it isn't going to matter a damn in the end as he will never leave his hospital bed alive and he's suffered in his own way for years.

I so wish we had internet when Bonnie and Clyde ran amok..........what a good thread that would have been!

June x

I was wrong to post the 'old codgers' comment. Though there is a divide of opinion, which might depend on age, and how you view the crimes.

A thirty year sentence would seem a long stretch to a younger man, but if you've decided that violent crime seems an easier path in life, than working legitimately for a living, that's a consequence of your choice.

Unofficially the powers that be had long ago given up trying to extradite him, and finish his sentence. After many costly and futile attempts, made nigh on impossible when he fathered a child who was a Brazilian national.

He could have remained free for the rest of his days, if he'd have stayed in Brazil. He knew even though he was an old, sick man, he'd be arrested as soon as he stepped off the plane.

That was his choice, because he needed medical care he could no longer afford in Brazil.

Choices, and consequences.

A life of crime will probably mean time spent inside a jail. Fact.

A flight back to this country, to make use of the free health service, meant certain imprisonment. Fact.

His choices.

[cashman]

Originally Posted by garinda

As stated none of them served longer than ten years in clink.

Also they knew the severity of the sentences that might be dealt to them if they were caught, when they planned their crime.

You've already stated that the sentences were harsher because it was public money, a fact they'd also have known at the time, yet they still went ahead with it.

Hitting someone with an iron bar isn't an exact science. They, as well as the driver were lucky he wasn't killed, and the sentences harsher still.

i dispute the second paragraph, as i remember everyone was "Shocked" at the time at the time dished out by the judge, at least everyone wi any commonsense, so how they knew or expected em is beyond me.

[garinda]

Originally Posted by cashman

i dispute the second paragraph, as i remember everyone was "Shocked" at the time at the time dished out by the judge, at least everyone wi any commonsense, so how they knew or expected em is beyond me.

In 1961 Gordon Lonsdale, in a high profile trial, was sentenced to a term of 25 years in prison, for plotting to pass on secrets to the Russians.

For executing what was then the biggest robbery in British history, I suppose a sentence of thirty years was a risk they took, when they decided to go ahead with this audacious crime.

If he'd have done his time, and shown any remorse, Biggs could have been a free man since the mid seventies, as no one served longer than ten years for the crime.

His choice.

Very often those attracted to a 'career' in crime chose the easiest route in life, rather than knuckling down and working hard for a living, like the vast majority of law abiding members of society.

He's certainly not some sort of folk hero to me. He wasn't playing Robin Hood, who was stealing to support a load of poor orphans. He was in it for himself, because he thought it was easier than working legally.

His choice.