The son of great train robber Ronnie Biggs today said there was a risk his father could die in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital. Biggs, 79, who was refused parole yesterday, is being treated in the hospital after being transferred from Norwich prison on Sunday.

The son of great train robber Ronnie Biggs today said there was a risk his father could die in the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital.

Biggs, 79, who was refused parole yesterday, is being treated in the hospital after being transferred from Norwich prison on Sunday.

Outside the hospital today, his son, Michael, said Biggs had pneumonia, plus fractures of the hip, pelvis and spine and was 'deteriorating'.

Mr Biggs added: 'If he does not respond to the current treatment he is receiving there is a risk he could pass away.

'He has a fractured hip and fractures to his spine and pelvis as well as pneumonia.

'The pneumonia is extremely strong in his body at the moment. He is in a lot of discomfort.'

He was speaking after visiting Biggs with his nine-year-old daughter Ingrid.

Biggs, from Lambeth, south London, was a member of a 15-strong gang which attacked the Glasgow to London mail train at Ledburn, Buckinghamshire, in August 1963 and made off with �2.6 million in used banknotes.

He was given a 30 year sentence but escaped from Wandsworth Prison, in south west London, after serving 15 months by climbing over a 30ft wall and fleeing in a furniture van.

He was on the run for more than 30 years, living in Spain, Australia and Brazil, returning to the UK voluntarily in 2001.

Mr Straw rejected a recommendation by the parole board which said Biggs posed no risk and should be released. The Justice Secretary said Biggs was 'wholly unrepentant' about his crime.