'Great Train Robber' breaks hip in prison

LONDON, June 29 (UPI) -- Ronnie Biggs, the man known as Britain's Great Train Robber, is so frail at age 80 he presents no threat if released from prison, his lawyer said.

"The only important factor is this: the Parole Board has recommended release -- all else is frankly superfluous," Giovanni di Stefano said. "Biggs still a risk? At 80, can't walk, can't talk, can't go to the toilet, is fed with nasal gastric feed, in a wheelchair?"

Biggs was hospitalized Sunday night after falling out of bed and breaking a hip at Norwich Prison, his son Michael told The Times of London in a story published Monday.

British Justice Secretary Jack Straw is to decide this week whether to accept the parole board's recommendation and release Biggs, who has had a series of strokes.

Biggs led a gang of 15 in stealing $4.3 million from a mail train in Buckinghamshire in 1963. The gang was captured but most of the money was never recovered.

Biggs served 15 months before escaping from prison and fleeing to Brazil, where he lived until 2001 when he surrendered in failing health and returned to England and a life in prison.