‘I’ve had more porridge than Goldilocks and the Three Bears – and I’m sick of it’: Charles Bronson tells public parole hearing he’s gone from Britain’s most violent prisoner to ‘born again artist’ as he bids for release
- READ MORE: How Charles Bronson became Britain’s most notorious prisoner
Britain’s most violent prisoner Charles Bronson today told his parole hearing he is now a ‘born again artist’ in his bid for release for the sake of his 95-year-old mother.
Bronson, 70, was imprisoned for seven years in 1974 after being convicted of armed robbery and was finally given a life sentence for kidnapping prison teacher Phil Danielson in 1999.
He is the second inmate in UK legal history to have his parole hearing held in public after the rules changed last year in a bid to remove the secrecy around the process.
He described himself as a ‘retired prison activist’ and told the parole panel about his meditation technique during the hearing, which is taking place at HMP Woodhill but being watched by press and public on a live stream at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
He is still in jail however after a prison career peppered with rooftop protests, multiple hostage takings and violence against other inmates and prison officers.
Charles Bronson in a court sketch during his parole board hearing today
Today Bronson, who changed his surname to Charles Salvador in 2014, saying he had done so ‘because Salvador means man of peace’ asked to be freed, saying: ‘My mother is 95. You’ve got the power to let me out and that is my mum’s last dream on this planet.’
Long criminal history of ‘Britain’s most violent prisoner’
– Bronson’s first conviction was in 1974 when he was 21 and was jailed for seven years for robbery, aggravated burglary, assault with intent to rob and possession of a firearm.
– He was convicted for wounding again in 1975, 1978 and 1985, then in 1987 he was released from prison at the age of 34.
– After 69 days he was back in prison, sentenced in 1988 for seven years for robbery at a jewellers’ shop.
– He was later released from prison in 1992, but weeks later was jailed for eight years for intent to rob and has been behind bars since then for violent offences committed while in custody.
– In 1994 he was given seven years for false imprisonment and blackmail, then in 1997 he took a deputy prison governor, staff and three inmates hostage for which he received five years.
– Later, in 1999, he took an art teacher hostage for three days and was given a life sentence with a minimum term of three years which expired in 2003.
– In 2014 he was further sentenced to three years for assaulting a prison governor.
Wearing a black suit, white shirt and dark glasses, he told the parole panel: ‘I’ve had more porridge than Goldilocks and the three bears. I’ve had enough of it.
‘I’ve been naughty. I’ve been an activist. I’ve been up on prison roofs and I loved every one. I was protesting against the brutality.
‘I’ve had 11 hostages. Am I sorry? Maybe. Would I do it again? Definitely not.’
He described having an epiphany and becoming an artist behind bars when an ex-forces prison officer approached him whilst he was in solitary confinement in HMP Wakefield and gave him ‘a pile of paper some crayons and some pencils and said: ‘Why don’t you do something positive and creative?”
‘I’m now a born again artist and that’s down to him,’ he said, telling the panel that he wants to be released so he can ‘go home and make a good honest living with my art’.
He told the panel that his pictures sell for £2,000 each now and every week he creates a piece for charities, including Macmillan nurses, which is auctioned off.
‘I’ve raised thousand and thousands of pounds for charities,’ he said.
He told the panel he has not had an adjudication in prison since September 2018 when he exposed his penis to his then wife during a visit.
‘She was going through a bad time and she left the visit laughing her head off,’ he said of the incident.
He told the panel that he has had three names and three personas in his life – the name he was born with Michael Peterson, Charles Bronson, a pseudonym he adopted whilst fighting as an unlicensed boxer, and his current name Charles Salvador.
He told the panel that during an underground boxing career backed by the Kray twins he had six fights: ‘Five with men and one with a Rottweiler.’
But violence is behind him now he claimed, telling the panel that he has ‘learned how to switch off with deep breathing’ whilst listening to birdsong in his cell, rather than resorting to violence in stressful situations.
‘I’m ready now. I’m a chilled out man. I’ll be going out with a bus pass. I know that if I do anything again I’ll die in prison and I’ll never get out,’ he added.
Bronson at the hearing at Woodhill Prison in Milton Keynes earlier today
The last picture of Bronson in prison, with his son George Bamby-Salvador, a paparazzi photographer
A supporter of the notorious prisoner outside the Royal Courts of Justice
Questioned about several incidents behind bars a few years ago, Bronson, 70, said: ‘I love a rumble. What man doesn’t?’
Describing one fight, in which the parole review was told he stripped naked and ‘greased up’, he said: ‘I took half a tub of Lurpak with me, stripped off and had the rumble of my life. It was f****** brilliant.’
Asked what he would do if someone tried to throw a punch at him outside jail to ‘make a name for themselves’, he claimed he would say: ‘Come on mate. There’s a cafe over there, let’s go and have a cup of tea.’
Today, Bronson said he had decided to change his surname to Salvador in 2014 because ‘Salvador means man of peace’ after previously being ‘a horrible person’ who ‘couldn’t stop taking hostages’.
Referring to Mr Danielson, the prison art teacher who he held in his cell for three days in 2014, he said he told him: ‘You’ve been my best hostage, you’re the only one who hasn’t sh** himself.’
Bronson told the hearing that the teacher had taken objection to a health and safety poster the prisoner created about the risk of Aids. The staff member misunderstood it as ‘having a pop at the gays’.
He said at the time the prison wing where he was held was ‘cold, empty and f****** brutal’, whereas now ‘things are too easy. I’ve got a telly in my cell, I can’t even believe it’.
Bronson, who has taken hostages on nine different occasions while in prison, said: ‘I went through a phase, I couldn’t help taking hostages. I was battling against the system… it was my way of getting back.
‘There’s nothing better than wrapping a governor up like a Christmas turkey.’
When the hearing was told that Bronson had tried to get someone outside prison to place a bet for him, he told the panel: ‘We all love a bet, guv, come on.’
He then repeatedly said: ‘I’m getting bored of this’, objecting to his legal representative asking for a break before he gave evidence.
Bronson could be heard asking the lawyer ‘can’t you just go yourself?’, before telling the chairman: ‘He just wants the toilet.’
Bronson told his parole hearing he has been ‘betting for 50 years’ while behind bars and won £1,500 last year.
Asked whether he was allowed to do this, he replied: ‘Well, are you or ain’t you?’
He said he was ‘not an addict’, later adding: ‘I’ve been betting for 50 years.’
Addressing his time at Woodhill, he said: ‘I’ve had four years here now, I think I’ve outstayed my welcome.’
The notorious prisoner insisted he was no longer violent, telling the panel: ‘I know if I do anything serious again I will die in prison, I will never get out of prison.’
The hearing heard of his frequent verbal outbursts, including one occasion where he had complimented a nurse on her top and touched her shirt, asking if it was silk.
The staff member told him it made her feel uncomfortable and he told her to f*** off, the hearing – which took place in prison with journalists and the public on a livestream from the Royal Courts of Justice – was told.
On August 19 last year when he heard that the deputy governor was visiting his cell, he said: ‘What, do you want me to put my party hat on?’ and told them to leave.
Another time, he drew a picture for a female member of staff after he complimented him on his artwork.
But she said it was against the rules to accept it so Bronson told her to ‘f*** off’ and ripped it up.
Bronson was also asked about three confrontations with prison guards, with a panel member asking him: ‘That’s not peace loving is it?’
In response, he replied: ‘A rumble clears the air, I love a rumble… what man doesn’t?
On the sometimes grainy live stream footage Bronson, who had been sipping what appeared to be a small carton of juice through a straw, was seen briefly standing up during the hearing and began asking for a tissue.
‘I haven’t p****d myself,’ he said as he placed the tissue under the beverage and sat back down.
Amid long pauses while the panel asked his prisoner offender manager questions, Bronson said: ‘We will be here all f****** day, won’t we?’
The chairman of the parole board panel, who has not been publicly named, outlined Bronson’s criminal history as the hearing opened.
He has spent most of the past 48 years behind bars, apart from two brief periods of freedom where he reoffended, the hearing was told.
Bronson’s first conviction was in 1974 when he was 21 and was jailed for seven years for robbery, aggravated burglary, assault with intent to rob and possession of a firearm.
He was convicted for wounding again in 1975, 1978 and 1985, then in 1987 he was released from prison at the age of 34.
After 69 days he was back in jail, sentenced in 1988 to seven years for robbery at a jewellers’ shop.
He was later released in 1992, but weeks later was imprisoned for eight years for intent to rob and has been behind bars since then for violent offences committed while in custody.
In 1994 he was given seven years for false imprisonment and blackmail, then in 1997 he took a deputy prison governor, staff and three inmates hostage for which he received five years.
Later, in 1999, he took an art teacher hostage for three days and was given a life sentence with a minimum term of three years which expired in 2003.
In 2014 he was further sentenced to three years for assaulting a prison governor.
Bronson said he ‘found it hard to believe’ the parole judges deciding whether he can be freed from jail have not watched a recent documentary about him.
In the Channel 4 programme which was broadcast last week, Bronson said he can ‘smell and taste freedom’ ahead of the hearing.
The panel chairman said yesterday: ‘The panel has not seen that documentary.’
He also muttered ‘f****** hell’ under his breath as the review heard how submissions to the hearing on behalf of Justice Secretary Dominic Raab had been delayed and could not be provided in advance of the proceedings to the parole board as a result.
The parole review heard Bronson has been held at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes since February 2019, having been previously being behind bars at HMP Frankland after he was moved from Wakefield prison for ‘security reasons’ amid incidents between 2017 and 2018 involving threats to governors.
Bronson, pictured here in 1997, told the parole judges he was a ‘retired prison activist’ but he deserved much of his time behind bars
Bronson’s prison offender manager, who was not named in the hearing, told the parole panel the move to Woodhill prison was so he could mix with more inmates and take part in a more ‘open’ regime.
A month after he arrived at Woodhill, another threat to a prison governor was made, the hearing was told.
It also heard that Bronson had used words to the effect of ‘see what happens’ to a member of staff and was prone to verbal outbursts.
READ MORE: Moment Bronson dances naked outside cell as he taunts 15 prison officers in riot gear before being pinned to the ground
Bronson let out loud sighs at points as the prison offender manager gave evidence.
They said there were some security concerns around him courting media attention.
They added he has regular phone contact with his son and friends, and has got back in touch with his mother.
There are 500 people on his mailing list who write to Bronson in jail, but he does not always reply, the panel was told.
‘Bloody hell, I can’t reply to all of them,’ he interjected.
Bronson is currently locked up in his cell for 23 hours per day, with only one hour for exercise or any other activities due to staff shortages.
The prison offender manager said they would worry that Bronson would be overwhelmed in open conditions, but that he has started learning breathing exercises and coping methods such as asking for time out in his cell in preparation for any future move.
They said: ‘Charlie’s used to a lot of solitary anyway. He doesn’t enjoy it… but he copes quite well. He has his exercises, he has his routines.’
Bronson has become known for his artwork while in jail.
The prison worker said: ‘He kind of loses himself in his artwork and finds that he doesn’t ruminate as much as he used to overnight.’
Bronson has changed his name to Salvador as a nod to his favourite artist Salvador Dali
As Bronson’s lawyer questioned the prison offender manager, the hearing was told that inmates can be released despite being assessed as posing a high risk of serious harm to the public.
There has been no persistent disruptive behaviour while he has been at HMP Woodhill, despite ongoing security concerns about his contact with the media.
Wearing a white shirt with dark braces, and a dark tie, Bronson could be seen rocking his chair backwards and forwards at times during the questioning.
He wore round, darkly tinted glasses and has a prominent moustache.
Bronson and his legal representative were sitting on one side of a large, wooden polished table, with the Parole Board panel members on the other.
The prison offender manager said that while Bronson is anti-drugs and anti-violence, and has made progress, there are concerns around understanding harm caused by behaviour other than violence, and victim empathy.
They went on: ‘The risk of violence is untested in lots of ways. Mr Salvador is still being kept in very small units with very limited opportunities to engage with others.
‘As the external controls fall away or diminish, Mr Salvador will need the internal controls to manage himself appropriately and I feel he’s got a way to go to establish that safely.’
The panel has a 738-page dossier of material relating to Bronson’s case.
Bronson was given 15 minutes to make an opening statement, to which he replied: ‘I could fill 15 hours.’
The panel chairman replied: ‘That, privately, is my concern.’
Bronson said: ‘First of all, it’s no secret I have had more porridge than Goldilocks and the Three Bears, and I’m sick of it. I’ve had enough of it, I want to go home.’
Bronson – pictured leaving the High Court in London, May 3, 2001 – is now bidding for parole
He told the panel that half of the dossier about him is ‘c**p, absolute rubbish’.
Bronson told the parole judges he was a ‘retired prison activist’ but he deserved much of his time behind bars.
He said: ‘Out of the 50 years I’ve been in prison, I have probably deserved a good 35 years of it… but I have been naughty. Not “naughty, naughty”, but naughty.’
Describing how in the past he had ended up on prison roofs in protest, he said: ‘I enjoyed every f****** one of them.’
He told how he had slept in ‘cages’ and ‘boxes’, and spent ’40 years of my life in solitary’.
He added: ‘Don’t think I’m wearing these glasses for sinister reasons. My eyes are blown away with the light’ as he discussed how being in solitary confinement made his eyes sensitive to light.
He told the panel of his previous crimes: ‘Am I sorry? Maybe. Would I do it again? Definitely not.’
Listing all the conditions in which he has been held, including high-security mental health hospitals, he said: ‘I’ve had every thing you can think of ten times over.
‘How much longer have I got to go? I’m ready now, I’m a chilled-out man, I feel comfortable in myself. I handle situations 100 times better than I used to. I’m no longer angry.’
Bronson went on: ‘I am terrified of the consequences of my actions because I know if I do anything serious ever again I will die in prison.’
He recalled how one officer, Mick O’Hagan, inspired him to take up art, telling him: ‘You carry on the way you’re going, Charlie, you will never get out.’
Bronson said: ‘Today I’m an artist, a born-again artist, and that’s down to him. He didn’t have to do what he did, he done it because he believed in me.’
He then made a plea on behalf of his mother.
The criminal attacked and kidnapped prison art teacher Phil Danielson in 1999 and was sentenced to life in 2000
Charles Bronson’s convictions
- Bronson’s first conviction was in 1974 when he was 21 and was jailed for seven years for robbery, aggravated burglary, assault with intent to rob and possession of a firearm.
- He was convicted for wounding again in 1975, 1978 and 1985, then in 1987 he was released from prison at the age of 34.
- After 69 days he was back in prison, sentenced in 1988 for seven years for robbery at a jewellers’ shop.
- He was later released from prison in 1992, but weeks later was jailed for eight years for intent to rob and has been behind bars since then for violent offences committed while in custody.
- In 1994 he was given seven years for false imprisonment and blackmail, then in 1997 he took a deputy prison governor, staff and three inmates hostage for which he received five years.
- Later, in 1999, he took an art teacher hostage for three days and was given a life sentence with a minimum term of three years which expired in 2003.
- In 2014 he was further sentenced to three years for assaulting a prison governor.
‘You people have got the power to let me out, that’s my mum’s last dream on this planet, to see her son outside, doing well, making an honest living with my art, as you know I’m anti-crime,’ he said.
‘If you’ve got any heart, any compassion, give it to my mum and make an old lady’s dream come true.’
Giving evidence at the parole hearing, Bronson said he had a ‘beautiful childhood’ but he enjoyed the ‘excitement’ he got from crime.
He said: ‘I just went wrong, I don’t know how, I don’t know why. I just enjoyed the excitement.’
Discussing how he got into stealing, burglary and guns, he said he was ‘very proud’ that he ‘never went down the road of drugs’.
‘I never shot anybody, never wanted to,’ he added.
When questioned, he conceded he did carry a loaded shotgun in the 1970s.
Suggesting if he were to use a gun that he would replace the pellets with rice, he was asked why he would need to shoot someone.
‘If a situation occurs,’ he replied.
The parole review heard how Bronson’s real name was Michael Peterson.
Asked why he changed his name to Charles Bronson, he said it was an alias dreamed up when he went into boxing once he was released in prison.
Bronson told the parole panel that notorious east London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray – with whom he says he served time behind bars – recommended he get into unlicensed boxing, and when he got a manager he was told to come up with an alias for ‘tax’ purposes.
He said he fought six fights while out on release, five against men and one against a Rottweiler.
He was later charged under the name of Charles Bronson in 1987, the hearing was told.
‘I love boxing, my father was a great champion boxer, it is a fraternity, it is a family… we used to box in prison but they are run by namby-pamby people now,’ he said.
Bronson said he now has ways of managing negative feelings.
Brinson memorably described the notorious Kray twins as ‘the best two guys I’ve ever met’
He said: ‘When I’m in my cell and I’ve got a bad letter, or something’s happened, or someone has been nasty or whatever, I can sit in my cell now and switch off, and go into myself with deep breathing.
‘Sometimes people push, push, push, take the p***, it’s blatant p***-taking, and some people need a slap, it’s as simple as that.’
In 2014 he decided to change his surname to Salvador as a nod to his favourite artist Salvador Dali.
‘Bronson was a nasty b******,’ he said. ‘I wasn’t a nice person and I didn’t like him. Salvador is a man of peace. I feel peaceful.’
Asked about an incident in 2015 when he threw his own faeces at another prisoner, Bronson claimed the inmate had killed four people and had insulted him, calling him an OAP and a nobody, and threatened to stab him.
He also claimed that the prisoner had asked him to do it so that he could claim compensation.
Bronson told today’s hearing he is ‘almost an angel now’ compared with his old self.
‘I have not walked on grass for over 30 years and I dream of walking on grass,’ he said.
The 70-year-old said he has changed his ways and there would be no more ‘rumbles’ behind bars.
He is in a unit of eight inmates, and has time out of his cell with three others, one of whom he does not like and avoids.
But he said on a larger wing he would be able to handle any conflict should it arise.
Asked about difficult situations he might face if released, Bronson said: ‘If some muppet wants to fight me or cause me problems I will handle it in a different way.’
He said he behaves like a ‘gentleman’ and plans to go and live in the country if released.
He told the panel: ‘Give a man a break. We could be sitting around this table until the cow jumps over the moon talking the same old cr**.
‘I’m just a normal geezer wanting to get on with his life.’
Bronson told the parole panel that notorious east London gangsters Ronnie and Reggie Kray – with whom he says he served time behind bars – recommended he get into unlicensed boxing
Asked about causing one of his victims – a prison governor – post-traumatic stress disorder, Bronson said: ‘That was 30 years ago and I’ve moved on from that long ago.
‘He was an a***hole, is an a***hole and will die an a***hole.’
Referring to Mr Danielson, the art teacher he took hostage for three days, Bronson said he would like to meet him after his release.
He told the panel if he had his time again he would ‘probably have just chinned him’.
Bronson said the most humiliating thing he did to the teacher was tying a skipping rope around his neck and walking him around the prison landing.
The inmate also said he is not ashamed of his protests when he climbed on to prison roofs.
‘Why would I be ashamed? I’m fighting the penal system that has done humiliating things to me for decades,’ he said.
Describing his treatment by the system over the years he said: ‘If I was a dog I’d have had the RSPCA on my side.’
He said prison now is more like a hospital, and that other inmates have CD and DVD players in their cells, and their own bedding.
‘I don’t want my cell to be a furnished bedsit… Unfortunately prison today is full of fairies,’ Bronson said.
The hearing continues.
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