Ronnie Biggs: A life in pictures

The Great Train Robbers escaped with £2.6m in 1963 from a mail train at Cheddington, Buckinghamshire

Biggs, aged 35, after his 1963 arrest. He later fled to Spain and had plastic surgery

Biggs broke out of Wandsworth Prison in 1965 using this van

He fled to Brazil in 1970 and is pictured here during the 1988 filming of "The Prisoner of Rio" about his life

Ronnie Biggs still in exile in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Biggs before suffering his first stroke in 1998. He has since suffered two further strokes.

Enjoying a cuppa: Doctors have since advised Biggs not to drink more than one glass of wine a day

An ailing Biggs celebrated his 70th birthday in 1999 with friends including train robber Bruce Reynolds (right)