Ronnie Biggs is dead

I'm watching CNN.No danger of them mentioning him.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by dilligaf1701

I don't understand why so many people are glorifying this person.

I have the news on and they just showed an interview him who was insistant he was happy about what he did.

Then people saying he's not a 'proper' villain and shouldn't even have been in prison.

He wasn't a proper villain, he was a lowlife ne'er do well who lucked in joining a gang of proper villains because he knew a train driver and when it came to the crunch he couldn't even get that right and was ostracised by them.

That said I'm not glad he's dead and can't really understand why people are happy about his passing, what difference does it make to them?

[Mick Fisher]

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

He wasn't a proper villain, he was a lowlife ne'er do well who lucked in joining a gang of proper villains because he knew a train driver and when it came to the crunch he couldn't even get that right and was ostracised by them.

That said I'm not glad he's dead and can't really understand why people are happy about his passing, what difference does it make to them?

^ This!

[Arthurgray50@blu]

I wouldn't like to work in the area where he is being buried - the funeral cortege will be massive.

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

...can't really understand why people are happy about his passing, what difference does it make to them?

This.

Being glad someone you never knew has died, very strange.
I am neither glad nor sad, it makes no difference at all to my life.

Exactly the same about Nelson Mandella, Princess Diana etc.
They are just names, I have/had no reason to be glad or sad about their deaths.

[dilli-theclaw]

I'm not happy about him being dead just don't see why he deserves any glorifying

[Arthurgray50@blu]

Ronnie Biggs was an old time crook, who earned respect in the underworld. Thats why l said that l wouldn't like to be in the area on the day he gets buried, as it will be BIG.

In yesterday's world the crooks always respected the elderly, and only done banks and bullion. In todays world you can't even leave a window open without someone breaking in.

Yes, the driver of the train died, but you cannot blame Biggs for that, That person was never found.

Arthur, you do talk utter round things at times.

These guys were thugs - look up the Krays, and the crimes they and their ilk committed; they ran protection rackets in the East End of London, menacing shop keepers and pub landlords.

[007stuart]

I think the BBC should postpone tonight and tomorrow's showing of the Great Train Robbery as a mark of respect to man who only returned to the UK to get free treatment from the NHS.

[peanut]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

I will never understand the collective adulation or condemnation of a person in the public eye that people have never met, nor never will, and only "know" through the press coverage, much of which has questionable bias.

Let's not forget that Biggs has a devoted son who has lost his father.

To me that's a contradiction.

Why should I remember that he has a son / was a father. As you say what's it got to do with anything or anyone.

With Ronnie Biggs I don't think the negative reaction is born of a personal hatred towards him but rather from the cult status he was granted as a result of his crimes. He gained a kind of infamy whilst he was on the run and his release was encouraged by many. The annoyance you're seeing is a backlash against that image. People trying to remind everyone that he committed a crime, then went on the run sticking his nose up at our criminal justice system and the family of the victim and then came back when he ran out of money. He never seemed to express a ounce of remorse for his crime and his attempt to flee justice, in fact he seem proud of it, and we should not glory that.

I think this story from The Economist sums it up: http://www.economist.com/blogs/bligh...g-ronnie-biggs

RONNIE BIGGS, an armed robber, liar and absconder from justice, died on December 18th. From the reaction of some commentators, you might have thought he was royalty—the dead man’s ghost-writer, Christopher Pickard, hailed Mr Biggs as “one of the great characters of the last 50 years”.
[snip]
He was to the end unrepentant. Communicating by alphabet board, in July, shortly before the 50th anniversary of the Great Train Robbery, he said: “If you want to ask me if I have any regrets about being one of the Great Train Robbers, the answer is no.”
[snip]
He will not be greatly missed.

[Osem]

Sorry but, good riddance.

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Ronnie Biggs was an old time crook, who earned respect in the underworld. Thats why l said that l wouldn't like to be in the area on the day he gets buried, as it will be BIG.

In yesterday's world the crooks always respected the elderly, and only done banks and bullion. In todays world you can't even leave a window open without someone breaking in.

Yes, the driver of the train died, but you cannot blame Biggs for that, That person was never found.

and in your twisted head that's supposed to be better is it ?

Originally Posted by Arthurgray50@blu

Ronnie Biggs was an old time crook, who earned respect in the underworld. Thats why l said that l wouldn't like to be in the area on the day he gets buried, as it will be BIG.

In yesterday's world the crooks always respected the elderly, and only done banks and bullion. In todays world you can't even leave a window open without someone breaking in.

Yes, the driver of the train died, but you cannot blame Biggs for that, That person was never found.

Oh yes, he may have been part of a gang that hit a man over the head with an axe handle and terrorised three others, but he loved his mother, eh.

The fantasy universe you live in gets more bizarre by the day.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Chris

Oh yes, he may have been part of a gang that hit a man over the head with an axe handle and terrorised three others, but he loved his mother, eh.

The fantasy universe you live in gets more bizarre by the day.

It's as bizarre as it is pathetic.