Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs has been officially released from his prison sentence and his son Michael has called the official documents "gold dust".

It is after the 79-year-old, who was granted compassionate release by Justice Secretary Jack Straw yesterday.

The Ministry of Justice confirmed that prison staff have left Biggs's bedside at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital, where he is being treated for pneumonia.

Mr Straw said the decision was based on medical evidence that his condition had deteriorated and he was not expected to recover from pneumonia.

But last night Biggs, who has suffered three strokes and cannot talk, used a spelling board to tell his son he was "over the moon".

The decision means he can celebrate his birthday on Saturday a free man. It will be 46 years to the day since the robbery.

Biggs 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.

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