U.K. train robber Biggs to appeal parole denial

Ronnie Biggs, one of the culprits behind Britain's Great Train Robbery of 1963, will appeal the British government's decision to deny him parole, his family said Thursday. 

British Justice Secretary Jack Straw refused to grant parole to Biggs on Wednesday, despite a parole board's recommendation he be released, saying the ailing 79-year-old is "wholly unrepentant." 

His son, Michael Biggs, who visited him at Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, told the BBC on Thursday his father's health is "deteriorating." 

Biggs, who was taken to hospital from prison on Sunday, has pneumonia and fractures of the hip, pelvis and spine stemming from a recent fall, according to his family. 

He is known for his part in the daring heist of 2.5 million pounds from a Glasgow to London night train.

Biggs was given a 30-year sentence, but escaped 15 months later and travelled under an alias to Australia, Argentina and Bolivia before settling in Brazil. He spent part of his loot on plastic surgery and fake travel documents.

He returned to Britain voluntarily in 2001, telling a U.K. tabloid newspaper his last wish was "to walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter."