A former model who struck up a “romance” with Britain’s most violent prisoner Charles Bronson stood by him during his freedom bid this week, the Daily Mirror can reveal.
Gemma Fernandez attended both days of the public parole hearing where he begged to walk free after 48 years behind bars.
The notorious inmate fell for Gemma - who posed for FHM magazine - after starting a relationship through letters and video calls.
She was even allowed to visit him at HMP Woodhill after prison Covid restrictions eased in 2021. She also campaigned for his release and set up the Free Charles Salvador petition.
Sources say Bronson was so smitten with her that he wanted to marry her.
But just months later he said he had “split” with Gemma, writing from prison: “I’m no longer with Gemma. We split. Romance and prison don’t mix. It’s two different worlds. I believe in freeing ones you love.”
However she has remained a staunch supporter and this week was pictured at the Royal Courts of Justice where she watched a live stream of his parole hearing.
She mingled with campaigners who wore t-shirts emblazoned with the words: “Free Charles Salvador.”
When approached by the Mirror, she said: “I’ve been advised not really to say anything.
“I just think he’s done really well and it’s time that he got out.”
Confirming she still speaks to him, she said: “I’m really supportive of him.”
Last year 5ft 7ins Gemma told a true crime podcast that she wrote to the lag after watching Tom Hardy portray the hardman in his 2008 film Bronson.
She says she spoke to him most days and read messages of support from across the globe so he “knows he’s not forgotten about”.
She told Steve Wraith’s YouTube channel: “He’s got a big heart, he cares about people. He’s such a nice bloke.”
Fawning over his art and poems she said: “His talents are endless really.
He’s forever creating and he’s hilarious at the same time. Some of his stuff is very deep and hard hitting too.”
She added: “Years ago I wanted to write to him after seeing the film and I never really did.
“But with the lockdown happening and everyone suffering with their mental health I thought, ‘He’s been banged up for 23 hours a day, for 46 years, I need to write to him’. The rest is history really.”
But despite their close bond, he later wrote to his ex-wife, Irene Dunroe, a former Ann Summers saleswoman and mum to his son, Mike, telling her they had separated.
An online profile described Gemma as an actor and presenter and said she posed for Maxim and FHM in shoots across the UK and Europe.
She says she even appeared in Maxim’s “Little Black Book” supplement which featured a collection of single women posing provocatively.
The final day of Bronson’s parole hearing will take place on Friday but is being held in private. He will learn his fate later this month.
Before their “split”, Gemma told how she had exchanged letters and held “purple visits” – video calls – “on a regular basis” since striking up a relationship with Bronson.
Last year she echoed Bronson’s frustration that he remained in jail while child killer Colin Pitchfork had been freed, saying: “It’s absolutely disgraceful really.
“At the end of the day no one is doubting that Charlie has done some things in the past, but he’s served his time and more.
“He’s never murdered anyone, he’s never committed a sex offence and he’s a reformed character. He’s nearly 70 and he deserves to be freed.
“If someone like Colin Pitchfork is allowed to be freed then there’s no sense in it. It’s a disgrace.”
She added: “He is so upbeat, he takes everything in his stride because he’s been through so much.
“But time is precious and that’s why we’re trying to get some hype about it because he’s got a life and he deserved to live as a free man.
“He genuinely just wants to have fish and chips on the beach - he’s got humble wishes.”
She told how she played songs down the phone to him – including songs by his “beloved” Moby – and as much “entertainment” as possible.
But Covid restrictions in UK prisons meant they met for the first time in December 2020 where they posed for photos together.
And she revealed she had to be vetted by cops at her home before she was allowed into the secure unit where he is being held.
She said: “It was my first visit to see Charlie, it was his first visit in two years, it was a big, big day to be honest. It was lovely to see him.”
Revealing the moment she first met him, she said: “It’s all a bit of a blur, but I just saw him and gave him a massive hug.
“He hasn’t had a hug in two years, so it was really, really nice.”
Speaking about the meeting, she said: “I thought it was quite a comfortable, cozy setting.”
In 2017 Bronson married soap star Paula Williamson, 37, inside HMP Wakefield.
They divorced two years later and in July 2019 she was found dead after taking a cocktail of drugs and alcohol.
