Robber Ronnie Biggs 'to be freed from jail in July'

Ronnie Biggs was yesterday recommended for early release from prison, and is likely to be freed in July.

Biggs, who was jailed for 30 years for his part in the £2.5m Great Train Robbery in 1964, had his case considered at a parole hearing. Documents presented to the panel said that, because of his ill health, he was suitable for release on licence and the risk of his re-offending was low. Biggs, 79, has suffered three strokes, can communicate only with the aid of an alphabet board and is fed through a tube in his stomach.

No formal decision was made but it is almost certain that the panel will recommend Biggs is released from the nursing wing at Norwich jail on 4 July, when he will have served a third of his sentence. He will need 24-hour care.

Biggs escaped from prison in 1965 and fled to Australia before settling in Brazil, where he lived for three decades. He returned to the UK in 2001.