Fugitive Ronnie Biggs of Britain's "Great Train Robbery" gang told the Sun newspaper yesterday that he wants to return home from Brazil after 35 years on the run.
Also, police said they had received an e-mail from a man claiming to be the 71-year-old train robber, who escaped from a London prison in 1965 two years after helping to pull off one of the most notorious robberies in criminal history.
The tabloid said Biggs, struck dumb by a stroke, had sent an e-mail to Det Chief Supt John Coles, in charge of London's serious crime squad. The e-mail included a copy of a fingerprint for identification.
"I am a sick man," Biggs said in an interview conducted through his 26-year old son Michael. "My last wish is to walk into a Margate pub as an Englishman and buy a pint of bitter."
Mr Kevin Crace, a lawyer representing Biggs, said his client was prepared to face arrest.
Biggs escaped from Wandsworth prison in 1965 after serving 15 months of a 30-year sentence for his part in the robbery of a Glasgow-to-London mail train. The raid netted more than £2.6 million pounds. The life story of gang member Buster Edwards was made into a film starring singer Phil Collins.