Britain's "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs will appeal against his outstanding 28-year prison sentence, his lawyers said today.
Biggs (71) was a member of a gang that got away in 1963 with a then-record 2.6 million pounds from a Glasgow-to-London mail train.He was jailed for 30 years in 1964 but escaped after 15 months and eventually fled to Brazil.
He returned to Britain on Monday after 35 years on the run and was immediately arrested by police.
Ms Judy Totton, a public relations consultant hired by the Biggs family, said in a statement today: "We will now begin the process of preparing an application to the Court of Appeal inviting them to consider whether it is appropriate or necessary for Mr Biggs to serve a sentence of 28 years imprisonment."
She said: "We will be asking the Court of Appeal to exceptionally grant leave to appeal against the sentence, or alternatively the Criminal Cases Review Committee to refer the case to the Court of Appeal."
The preparation of the application will be several months before such an application is ready to be presented, she said.
Saying there would be no further statements until the application has been made, she said: "In the meantime, Mr Biggs remains a sick man and we will make appropriate representations to the Prison Service that he be detained in a regime suited to someone of his age and poor state of health."
Now penniless, Biggs told Britain's Sunnewspaper last week that he hoped for mercy from the courts because of his failing health and the time elapsed since his crime.
Biggs is being held in London's Belmarsh jail.
AFP