Jul 2 2009 Jack Doyle Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs was refused parole yesterday by Justice Secretary Jack Straw, who accused him of being "wholly unrepentant" about his crimes. Straw rejected a Parole Board recommendation that the 79-year-old be released. He said it was"unacceptable" that Biggs had fled prison and accused him of "outrageously courting the media" while on the run. Biggs would have been a free man "many years ago" if he had complied with the sentence given to him, Straw said. The decision was attacked as "perverse" by Biggs's legal adviser Giovanni Di Stefano, who accused Straw of "cruel and unusual punishment". Straw said: "Mr Biggs chose to serve only one year of a 30-year sentence before he took the personal decision to commit another offence and escape from prison, avoiding capture by travelling abroad... [read full story]
