Ronnie Biggs dead at 84

[astroron]

Great train robber Ronnie Biggs gets true freedom at last.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25426914
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Hans Tucker]

Good Riddance...there was nothing great about what he and his accomplices did.

[astroron]

Corporate Crooks like Bondie,make what Biggs and the gang stole seem like small change.
I am not in favour what he did ,,but ask the people who are fleeced by corporate criminals like Bond who served only 1 day in Jail for every $1000.000 he stole/embezzled.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[Hans Tucker]

And when the likes of Bondie and other corporate crooks die I will say the same thing, but this news story isn't about corporate criminals like Bondie, its about an over glorified criminal called Ronald Biggs. No thumbs up from me.

[MortonH]

It's not about the money. They beat the crap out of the train driver. Poor guy never recovered and died only a few years later. Biggs was scum, pure and simple.

[astroron]

,More people are effected by Corporate crooks than people like Biggs.
There is no proof that Biggs hit the driver Mills.
The great train robbers got thirty years, corporate robbers get 3 years.
They may not use a cosh or violence but they course much more devastation to a lot more people, just ask all the people who went to the wall in the GFC and in the period when Bond was active.
BTW he is still living the high life while a lot of the people he helped ruin are still effected to this day.:sadeyes:
Cheers:thumbsup:

[MortonH]

Agree, Ron. Corporate crooks are scum too!

[barx1963]

Having been on the other end of an armed holdup, I have absolutely no time for the point of view that glorifies people like Biggs. Mindless violent thugs.
The recent miniseries that dramatised his life was simply appalling.
Whether he hit the driver or not is irrelevant, he was part of a gang who used violence and the threat of violence to get what they wanted.

Comparisons to corporate scum are completely mindless, you have a bloke goes to work on a train one day, ends up with his life ruined. Biggs was a coward who was not man enough to face up to what he had done.

Good riddance to him!

Malcolm

[stephenb]

Yes, good riddance...

He worked as a carpenter/labourer at GTV-9 Melbourne in 19from around 1967-1969. When I worked there in the 1990's I worked along side several colleagues who told me some interesting stories about him (most of those same staff had been there since the early 1960's). Several staff either knew who he was or suspected who he was at the time. When the News room caught wind of it, they ran with the story on the nightly bulletin in late 1969 but only after he was tipped off by a staff member. He fled to Perth from there. He left his wife and son behind who still live in Melbourne to this day as I understand.

[astroron]

BS Malcolm, it is not mindless to compare Corporate scum to a few thugs who rob a train, ask the thousands of people who's lives are ruined by these people.
People have committed suicide because of these crooks who get a slap on the wrist for their crimes.
The GFC was partially caused by corporate crime,which as effected millions across the world,and up to now as far as I am aware no one has been brought to account.
Again, ask the people who's lives were ruined by Bond, I am sure they would put you straight.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[astroron]

Just to make it plain,I am not defending Biggs for what he did, just the inequality in sentences.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[barx1963]

It is mindless if the idea is to say this criminal is "better" or "worse" than than that one. They are all scum and should be treated as such.
Yes the white collar criminals should be treated with harshly, but to somehow say lionise the likes of Biggs (and by the way Ron I am not making any suggestion that you or anyone else in the thread is doing so) as some in our community seem to want to do as a sort of working class hero is just plain nuts.
I worked in an industry where holdups at the time I worked were a regular occurence. The damage they do is real, damaging and in some cases permanent.
My own experience was 25 years ago. I was lucky, a few traumatic nights, the odd nightmare. Mind you I still cannot see someone wearing a balaklava without a very strong reaction!
I knew people who couldn't work again after hold ups, some suicides and quite a few family break ups.
Sure corporate crims affect more people sometimes, but the damage thugs like Biggs do is real and is often not recognised. I rarely mention the fact I was in a holdup as people have the attitude "Oh well, you weren't hurt so it's all OK". Until you have looked down the barrel of a gun and realised that the person on the other end must be desperate in a way few of us can understand, you would struggle to understand what it is like.

Malcolm

[Hans Tucker]

So..lobby the government to change the laws then otherwise nothing will change.

[astroron]

If all the corporate crime that has gone on in this country since I have been in Australia, and no convictions have been made since the GFC, my lobbying, would have as much effect as a bug hitting a cars windscreen.
Cheers:thumbsup:

[rogerco]

The difference is that a lot of the people who invest are happy to pay the ridiculous fees to these corporate high flyers while the share prices are rising and earnings are coming in. Everyone thought he was a hero when the yacht crossed the line. The investors at least had a choice who they invested with. The train driver, guards etc didn't get a choice when they had the guns pointed at them.

Good riddance to Biggs, Chopper, Mokbel and all the other scum that prey on society. It was the train that was great not the robber.

[raymo]

It was the media that gave that crime the title great train robbery, because it was unprecedented in the U.K. , involved a lot of people, and took a lot of planning. The general public in the U.K. felt some
sympathy for Biggs & Co because the sentences were considered to be
outrageous. Murderers usually got lesser sentences [typically 14 yrs.]
The sentences were harsh because it was a holdup of an official train,
which the government could not tolerate. As I understand it from the
media reports at the time, the violence would not have happened had
the driver done as he was told.
I must emphasise that, like Astroron, I in no way condone what they
did, but also like Astroron, I think the sentences were disproportionate
when compared to the norm of the times. Like Malcolm I have been
at the wrong end of a gun, but probably unlike Malcolm I have also
had my business destroyed by a tycoon who shall remain unnamed.
I got over the mugging, but never recovered financially.
raymo

[Zaps]

Shame on him.

[AndrewJ]

Gday Hans



Wont help, as in many cases, the "govt" also uses violence/threats on its own people for "not doing as they are told" as a tool.
Dont want to set a precedence that can be used against themselves.

Sure Biggs was part of a criminal gang, and one person got badly hurt,
but as mentioned in several places, much more devastation to many more people has been done without anything like the repercussions.
The media beat it up at the time and he was cunning enough to live off the false fame
Just let the old bloke go.

Andrew

[Lee]

Maybe they tried that line in their defence, and wondered why they got 30 years???
A violent crime against a hard working member of society minding his own business - they all deserved 30 years.

[raymo]

Hi Lee, The issue wasn't whether they deserved 30 yrs; it was why did they get 30 when deliberate cold blooded murderers usually got a max of 14, and with parole out in 8 or 9. Bear in mind that they[the train robbers] from memory, got little or no parole either.
raymo