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Biggs' health is 'deteriorating' | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
The son of 79-year-old Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has said his father's condition is "deteriorating". | The son of 79-year-old Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has said his father's condition is "deteriorating". |
Michael Biggs visited his father at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, the day before he had expected to be released from prison. | |
Justice Secretary Jack Straw refused to grant parole on Wednesday, describing Biggs as "wholly unrepentant". | |
Mr Biggs said: "If he does not respond to the current treatment... there is a risk he could pass away." | |
Commons debate | |
A Parole Board report said the risk Biggs posed was "manageable under the proposed risk management plan and consequently parole is recommended". | |
Mr Straw rejected the recommendation to release Biggs, saying he was "wholly unrepentant" and had "outrageously courted the media". | |
Michael Biggs said his father had been trasferred to an isolation ward | |
Commons Leader Harriet Harman said on Thursday it would not be "appropriate" for MPs to debate the decision to refuse parole to Biggs. | |
Former Labour minister Kate Hoey had said some MPs disagreed with Mr Straw's decision and she had called for a Commons debate. | |
Ms Harman said: "This is not a question of policy, this is a question of a quasi-judicial judgment in the public interest on a particular case." | |
Biggs was moved from Norwich Prison to hospital on Sunday. He has pneumonia and fractures of the hip, pelvis and spine. | |
'Poor health' | 'Poor health' |
His son told the BBC's Today programme earlier that his father would appeal against the decision because he had expressed remorse in his autobiography. | |
Speaking outside hospital, Michael Biggs said: "The pneumonia is extremely strong in his body at the moment. He is in a lot of discomfort." | |
He added that he could not understand Mr Straw's decision not to grant the parole application. | |
He said his father, who suffered the fractures in a fall, was in such poor health that he posed no risk. | He said his father, who suffered the fractures in a fall, was in such poor health that he posed no risk. |
"I would urge Mr Straw to come down to the hospital and see him," he added. | "I would urge Mr Straw to come down to the hospital and see him," he added. |
"He cannot read or write. He cannot eat or drink." | "He cannot read or write. He cannot eat or drink." |