Round Two.(Ronnie Biggs, the great train robber)(Brief Article)

Ronnie Biggs, the great train robber, spent the past 35 years on the lam as Britain's most famous fugitive. With 14 members of his gang, he pinched [Pound sterling]2.6 million in a celebrated 1963 mail-train heist, then was caught and jailed--only to escape in 1965 to lead a very public life in Rio, snuggling buxom beach bunnies and dancing away at Carnival. But time eventually caught up with "Ronnie," as his many fans still call him. His money ran dry, reducing him to hosting tourists at barbecues near his small Rio flat--and charging by the head.

Enfeebled by three strokes, unable to speak and saddled with medical bills he couldn't pay, Biggs, 71, last week threw in the towel and flew home to Britain, there to be arrested and whisked to Belmarsh Prison to serve out the remainder of his 28-year sentence. "I am a sick man," he told The Sun, a London tabloid that has told his story in a series of gaudy front-page exclusives. "My last wish is to walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter."

It's a tabloid natural, this tale, a guaranteed best seller. But to many Brits, it's something more: a media scam. More than a ...