The "Great Train Robber" Ronnie Biggs finally won his long battle to escape British justice last night. Brazil's Supreme Court unanimously rejected a request by Britain for the extradition of the fugitive who fled Britain 32 years ago.
"The tribunal by unanimous vote has archived [rejected] the extradition request," said the president of the Supreme Federal Tribunal, Justice Celso de Mello.
Justice Mauricio Correa, who provided an initial verdict on the extradition case, said Britain's request fell foul of Brazil's statute of limitations, which considers a crime committed over 20 years ago as void.
A spokesman said the ruling was final and the British government would not be able to appeal.
Biggs (68) was part of a gang which carried out the £2.6 million robbery of a Glasgow to London mail train in 1963.
He was sentenced to 30 years in 1964 but escaped from prison in 1965. He first fled to Australia before arriving in Rio de Janeiro in 1970, where he has lived ever since.
In London, the Home Office said that it was "very disappointed" with the ruling. A spokesman said: "The final decision is a matter for the Brazilian authorities. There was never any guarantee of success. This is no reflection on what are now established extradition arrangements with Brazil."
Britain requested the return of Biggs from Brazil in October, two months after an extradition treaty was finally agreed between the two countries.
Despite the official expressions of disappointment at the court's ruling, there is also likely to be some sense of relief in British government circles.
It means the British Home Secretary, Mr Jack Straw, will be spared the necessity to make a decision on how much of his remaining prison term Biggs should serve.
In theory, Biggs could have been forced to serve out the remaining 18 years of his sentence which would have kept him behind bars until he was 86.