VILLIERS: BARNET SHOULD NOT HAVE TO FOOT THE BILL FOR BIGGS

MP for Chipping Barnet, Theresa Villiers, has expressed her anger following the news that the 79 year old train robber, Ronnie Biggs, is likely to spend his final years in a Barnet nursing home paid for by the taxpayer, if he is released from prison next month.

Under the rules of the criminal justice system, Biggs is entitled to nominate anywhere in the UK as his chosen place to live if he is given probation. He has chosen Barnet because his son lives in East Barnet. Once nominated, the law requires Barnet Council and Primary Care Trust to find a place for him and provide the relevant care. Although the precise figure is unknown, the cost of his 24 hour care is likely to run into tens of thousands of pounds.

Theresa Villiers said, “If Ronnie Biggs is given probation, Barnet Council and Primary Care Trust will be legally obliged to pay for his care and hardworking Barnet taxpayers will have to foot the bill.”

“Ronnie Biggs has never expressed remorse for his crime. Barnet residents struggling to meet the cost of their own care will deeply resent their taxes going to support Mr Biggs. Not content with robbing trains, he is now set on hitting the taxpayer with a big bill. People who have worked hard and saved all their lives will be worse off than a convicted criminal who spent 35 years evading British justice.”