July 11, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 29, 1423

LONDON, July 10: Ailing train robber Ronnie Biggs wed his Brazilian ex-lover Raimunda Rothen behind bars in a top-security British jail on Wednesday, his family said.

The ailing convict tied the knot in a private ceremony at Belmarsh Prison, southeast London, attended by their son Michael, 27, and grand-daughter Ingrid, two.

Biggs, 72, has 28 years of his sentence to run for his part in a 1963 mail train heist that has gone down in criminal legend.

He was part of a gang which stole cash equivalent to some 50 million pounds (77 million dollars, 78 million euros) in today’s money.

He has been back in jail here since last May after voluntarily ending more than three decades on the run to give himself up to British authorities.

Rothen, a former samba dancer whom he met 31 years ago while on the run in Brazil, has visited him several times in prison since then.

Biggs can barely speak and is also partially paralysed after four strokes, but managed to sign his name to seal the marriage.

Afterwards his new bride, 54, showed off her ring outside prison. “I’m very happy,” she said.—AFP