Britain's press watchdog said yesterday it would investigate the role played by the Sun newspaper in the return of Ronnie Biggs to Britain.
Under Press Complaints Commission (PCC) guidelines, newspapers are not normally supposed to make payments to convicted criminals or their families.
According to reports, the Sun is paying £20,000 to Biggs's son Michael for "expenses" in returning him home. Another £12,000 each is going to fellow robber Mr Bruce Reynolds, who served 10 years of a 25-year sentence, and Mr Reynolds's son, Nick. A statement issued by the PCC said the payments to Biggs and his associates "raise a number of issues. The code (of conduct) makes clear that payments to convicted criminals are only permissible where there is a public interest and the material could only be obtained by means of such payment."
A spokesman for the Sun said the guidelines on payments to criminals "were fully taken into account" when it decided to fly Biggs home.
The spokesman said the paper was happy to co-operate with the PCC and would be making clear "the massive public interest in returning a convicted criminal home to face British justice and at no cost to the British taxpayer".
While the rest of the world's press are busy chasing titbits of the Biggs story, the Sun has lost no time exploiting its exclusive.
It photographed Biggs wearing a red Sun T-shirt before he left Rio de Janeiro and hugging friends and family he was leaving behind.
"Got Him," the paper's headline trumpeted yesterday: "Sun flies Biggs home to justice after 13,068 days on the run."
The paper has promised to release video footage of his flight home and his arrest in London while still on board the plane - but only under an embargo until 6 a.m. today.