Charles Bronson, one of the UK's most notorious prisoners, has been granted his request for a public Parole Board hearing. Bronson's latest bid for freedom next year will take place in public after the Parole Board said it granted an application made by lawyers for Bronson "in the interests of justice".
Bronson - who changed his surname to Salvador in 2014 after the artist Salvador Dali - is one of the country's longest serving prisoners and has been dubbed one of Britain’s most violent offenders. He has been in prison for much of the last 50 years, often in solitary confinement or specialist units.
It is believed the 66-year-old is being held at high-security HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes. Bronson has previously said he was first sent to jail in 1968 and has held 11 hostages in nine different sieges – with victims including governors, doctors, staff and, on one occasion, his own solicitor.
He was sentenced in 2000 to a discretionary life term with a minimum of four years for taking a prison teacher at HMP Hull hostage for 44 hours. Since then the Parole Board has repeatedly refused to direct his release.
In a document setting out the decision for a public hearing, Parole Board chairwoman Caroline Corby said: “I have concluded that a public hearing is in the interests of justice in the case of Mr Salvador. I therefore grant the application for the hearing to be held in public.”
The case is yet to be listed and a date for the hearing has not been set but the Parole Board said it is expected to take place early next year. Bronson was the first prisoner to formally ask for a public hearing after the rules changed earlier this year to allow the public and press to observe proceedings, in a bid to remove the secrecy around the parole process.
