Great train robber Biggs returning to UK: report

Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs is returning to Britain after 35 years on the run, it was reported today.

Biggs is prepared to face arrest when he flies into the country from his home in Rio de Janeiro.

The 71-year-old claimed he is in failing health after he recently suffering his third stroke.

Explaining his reasons for giving himself up, Biggs said: ‘‘I am a sick man.

"My last wish is to walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter.

‘‘I hope I live long enough to do that.’’

Biggs has sent a message by email to Detective Chief Superintendent John Coles, head of Scotland Yard’s Serious and Organised Crime Group, informing him of his decision,according to reports.

It read: ‘‘I would like to give myself up to you. What I need is passport documentation to travel back to Britain.

‘‘I am prepared to be arrested at the gate when I arrive at Heathrow airport and submit myself to the due process of the law.’’

He also included a thumb print, which can be linked to his police records to prove the email is genuine.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said he could not confirm whether an email had been received.

Biggs was part of a gang that escaped with a then record £2,600,000 after holding up a Glasgow to London night train in 1963.

Driver Jack Mills was coshed as the gang boarded the train near Cheddington, Bucks, in a robbery immortalised in the film Buster.

Biggs was sentenced to 30 years but escaped from Wandsworth Prison in south London after only 15 months.

He fled abroad and settled in Brazil in 1970. His son Michael was born there, making him ineligible for extradition.