Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs mourned at funeral

Family and friends of notorious British gangster Ronnie Biggs have paid their respects at a funeral in London. The 84 year old, who was part of a gang which stole millions from a mail train in England in 1963, passed away last month (Dec13), four years after he was freed from prison on compassionate grounds due to ill health.
Mourners gathered at Golders Green Crematorium in north London on Friday afternoon (03Jan13) to bid farewell to the former fugitive.
His coffin was draped in Britain’s Union flag and the national flag of Brazil, where Biggs spent many years on the run following his escape from prison in 1964, as well as a scarf from his beloved London soccer team, Arsenal, and his favourite hat.
The funeral procession was preceded by a marching band, and the congregation was asked not to wear black for the ceremony, while Biggs’ defiant personality was remembered with a wreath shaped like a rude two-fingered hand gesture.