The Press Complaints Commission has confirmed it is to conduct an investigation into the Sun's involvement in the Ronnie Biggs affair, after the newspaper chartered a private jet to fly the Great Train Robber back to Britain.

This was a fine old journalistic piece of bravado in the typical traditions of the Sun newspaper.

The pictures of Biggs, wearing a Sun tee-shirt, flying home on Rupert Murdoch's personal jet, will be seen all over the world - though not by the readers of the Daily Express, which printed the photograph but airbrushed out the Sun logo.

The Press Complaints Commission has already launched an investigation, saying that "The issues relating to payments by a national newspaper to Ronnie Biggs and his associates raise a number of issues under the newspaper code of practice."

The code 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.

Peter Preston is a former member of the PCC, and a former editor of the Guardian. He believes that the Sun will have fully checked its legal position before bringing Briggs back to Britain.