Train robber Ronnie Biggs to wed tomorrow

Train robber Ronnie Biggs is to get married in prison tomorrow.

Train robber Ronnie Biggs is to get married in prison tomorrow.

The 72-year-old former fugitive will marry Ms Raimunda Rothen, the mother of his son Michael, after proposing to her four times.

Biggs, who is partly paralysed after four strokes, has 28 years left to serve in prison for his part in the 1963 robbery.

He will get married at Belmarsh Prison in south east London in a closed ceremony.

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The service at 10am will be attended by Michael, 27, his girlfriend Veronica and their two-year-old daughter Ingrid, plus a handful of guests.

Ms Raimunda, 54, who currently lives in Switzerland, has visited Biggs several times since giving up his life on the run and returning to the UK in May last year.

She was said to be "extremely worried" about his ailing health and accepted his most recent proposal because she feared he was nearing the end of his life, said the spokeswoman.

"Ronnie has expressed himself delighted that Raimunda has finally agreed to marry him. He has always believed it to be the best way of keeping the family together," she added.

The service will be conducted by the Rev David Powe, and Biggs's solicitor, Richard Mallett, will also be present.

Biggs was part of a gang that ambushed a Glasgow-to-London night train in August 1963, escaping with £2.6 million in cash. He was caught and jailed, but escaped after 15 months and fled abroad, spending most of his fugitive years in Rio de Janeiro.

PA