Back in August 1963 the only subject of conversation for a few weeks was the Great Train Robbery. £2.5 million was a lot of money in those days. What made it even better was the fact that most of us could not hope ever to get our hands on that kind of money. A bus driver would have been luck to earn £15 a week, top prize on the Premium Bonds was, I think still only £5000 and on the pools, the predecessor to the lottery, it was £75 000. Most people tended to admire the robbers for the audacity of their crime pointing out that the cash was on it's way to be destroyed anyway. What tended to be forgotten was one of the gang got stupid and hit the train driver who never worked again and it was claimed in later years that he died prematurely as a result of his beating. Each member of the gang ended up with a bag containing £150 000 but most of them ended up behind bars within a year. The 30 year sentence was greeted with both surprise and dismay and when Ronnie escaped from Winston Green prison many people were quietly pleased. His trip to Brazil hit the headlines as did his attempted kidnap by certain members of the crew of a British war ship that was on a visit to Brazil. Eventually Ronnie Came home and the rest is history. Today the Parole Board recommended he should be released. He is old and ill and if not exactly dying does not have long left. Jack Straw, the Justice Minister has decided that Ronnie will not be released as he has never shown any remorse and chose not to serve his jail sentence when he escaped and moved to Brazil all those years ago.
The question is, and you can answer yes, no or don't care, should Ronnie be released?
6 comments:
yes he should be released to die with any family he has left, its not astho he killed someone.
Therefore we as a country should show him some respect and allow him to live the rest of his life away from prison granted this will most likely be a short time.
id bet that alot of people views would be much different if he had simply stolen a car. when it comes to someone dieing wish then the seriousness of the crime should be considered not the value of the goods taken. IE Murderers should be released, armed robbers that did claim a life should be
Jack is being a prig. The guy has served enough time and probably has not got much left. Release him.
When you consider that rapists, murderers can and do get parole and also the ridiculous sentences handed out to those that kill by car this really is about something other than the crappy legal system.
Revenge probably. Well surely enough of that has been achieved.
If you can't do the time, don't do the crime. Any "rights" that Biggs might have had went west when he broke the law. He didn't show any compassion for Jack Mills, what goes around comes around.
I'm afraid, on balance, I'm inclined to agree with Budgie...poor old Jack Mills and his family got no remission...and all the train robbers must be regarded as party to that particular nasty little crime...
Besides if Biggs had stayed in prison and done his time, he'd have already been out for years by now...instead of which, he chose to thumb his nose at justice ... and that's what he's paying for now.
I say let him go if only to save the tax payers the astronomical cost of keeping him in jail. Not that I pay much tax but it is the principal of the thing.
It doesn't cost that much taxes to keep one person in jail in comparison to £2.5 million!
Personally, I find 10 years just a little too short to let him out yet. 15 years, half his sentence, would be more like it.
It's all his fault anyway, he shouldn't have done it if he can't take it.
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