Charles Bronson, Britain's most notorious prisoner, has become the first person to formally ask for a public Parole Board hearing and will make history when the meeting takes place next year. The hearings have traditionally been held in private, but now the rules have changed to allow victims and reporters to witness the event, where it is determined if an inmate should be freed from jail or stay behind bars.
Bronson, who has changed his name to Charles Salvador, is now 69 but he was first locked up at the age of 13 and has spent most of the years since behind bars. Now one of his prison chums, reformed gangster Stephen Gillen, has spoken out and said the public hearing is a good thing. He claims that it will remove any so-called bias or 'corruption' and could lead to the infamous lag's release - saying "he should be free!"
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Stephen spent nearly 20 years behind bars and was locked up in over 25 different prisons during his time in the penal system, becoming one the UK's most notorious convicts in his own right.
During that time, he was on five occasions placed in cells directly next to Bronson, and the pair sparked up a friendship - and the infamous prisoner still sends Stephen a Christmas card each year.
He said: "He has to pay for his crimes and be accountable - we know that to keep a society progressive and healthy, there needs to be boundaries to keep people safe.
"But when you talk about Charlie, apart from the usual uproar about him being the most dangerous, about all this stuff that he's done, you have to look at how he's been treated and the crimes for which he was sentenced for.
"The way he was held and punished through that sentence was very detrimental for everyone.
"The most prudent way to look at this case is to take Charlie the personality out of it. This is indicative, the first-ever public parole hearing - it's never been done before. There's an indication that this is a special case, and needs to be looked at - because of the circumstances."
At the age of 13, Bronson joined a gang of robbers and ended up in a juvenile detention centre after being caught stealing, and things went downhill from there.
In 1974, at the age of 22, he was convicted of armed robbery and sentenced to seven years in prison. While he was behind bars, he attacked fellow prisoners and prison guards and more time was added to his sentence.
He was eventually released in 1987, 13 years later, and started a career as a bare-knuckle boxer in London, but it wasn't long until he found himself standing in front of a judge again.
The next year, in 1988, he robbed a jewellery shop and pleaded guilty to armed robbery when his partner became the prosecution's main witness.
He was sentenced to another seven years, was released in 1992, then 50 days later he was locked up again - this time for conspiracy to rob.
The charges were dismissed in 1993 and he was released, but then he was arrested again for conspiracy to rob and possession of a sawn-off shotgun and handed an eight-year sentence.
He's been behind bars ever since, as he's had years added onto his sentence for taking hostages, causing millions of pounds worth of damage in prison, and staging protests.
But, as Bronson himself said previously, "Who have I killed? Who have I raped? Who am I a danger to outside? Nobody."
Stephen continued: "When you look at the facts, has Charlie paid his debt - yes, of course he has.
"Everyone deserves a chance, he hasn't murdered anyone, he's in his 70s now - if he wasn't to be let out, what kind of message of rehabilitation is that giving out to people?
"I would like to hope he'll get out."
Bronson is set to have his parole hearing held in public after he won a bid, believed to be put in by a third party, after a new legal ruling.
The Parole Board said it granted an application made by lawyers for Bronson - one of the UK's longest-serving prisoners - to request that his latest case review is heard in public.
James claims that parole hearings are open to "corruption" and personal bias, and hopes that Bronson will have a fair chance when it is held in public.
He continued: "It's been bound by the legal red tape and processes so far, a lot of these are out of touch and draconian - they're open to corruption.
"Certain things are not being heard - when the public interest is more focussed on it it really dilutes the chance of that happening, because there's so much exposure on it. It makes it more balanced, it has to be a good thing.
"Human beings are human beings, opinions are like buses - there's another one coming along in a minute.
"I still believe in normal intelligent people, it's like a jury - 12 men and women, of sound mind, to look at all the facts and to come to a conclusion.
"With this public debate, I'd like to see it more like that. I think he should be released, absolutely he should."
Stephen started a life of crime as a child and was first locked up when he was only 14.
In 1993, when he was 22, he was jailed for 17 years for attempted robbery and firearms offences and it wasn't long after that that he first met the man he knows as Charlie.
According to Gillen, Bronson, who is being held in prison indefinitely, is "absolutely not the most dangerous prisoner in the UK penal system" and is someone who deserves a second chance.
Speaking previously, he said: "I wasn't his cell-mate, I may as well have been because we were always in single cells, but we would be in blocks or segregation blocks, so we'd be next door to each other.
"We always got on famously, me and Charlie. We would talk for hours and hours into the night, he's a fantastic storyteller.
"The image people may have of him over the years is far from reality in many respects. He has wonderful sides to him that include generosity, real old-school values and a keen sense of protection for women and children.
"He is highly creative and a wonderful artist who has done much for charitable causes. And now he's in his later years, he's changed a lot as people do."
Speaking from prison recently, Bronson said: "My last nearly five years, my reports have been excellent, I've changed, I've become an artist, I have rehabilitated myself.
"I'm planning to live in Devon away from all the crime and all the villains.
"I have turned a chapter in my life, I'm more relaxed, I'm chilled out, I'm not a danger to anybody. And I still say I'm not a danger to the British public. If so, who to?
"Who have I killed? Who have I raped? Who am I a danger to outside? Nobody.
"I'm 70 years old in December. What danger am I to anybody?
"And they have still got me down as Category A, they have still got me down as Britain's most violent man, how does that work out?"
Bronson said he now hopes to be home for Christmas.
He said: "That would be nice. They won't be giving me anything as I've actually earned it.
"For once in my life, I've fought the right way, I've swallowed my humble pie, wiped my mouth, I haven't attacked anyone for years, I'm just an artist.
"I'm not a dangerous man, I'm not a terrorist, I'm not going to come out and mug people or set fire to houses. It's still a wonderful world. And I want a bit of it.
"I love people, I don't hate people.
"Why do I need to do another robbery? I've got money... I'll have a lot more when I get out. And that's what they are frightened of... me becoming a success.
"If they had a brain amongst them they could use me to help people from coming to prison.
"I'd do it - I'd go round the schools and tell them, 'stay away from crime, stay away from drugs'. And the kids would listen to me."
A date for the parole hearing is yet to be set.
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