Charles Bronson has gone by many names but most people will know him as the UK's ‘most notorious prisoner’. First jailed back in 1974, he has spent most of the years since in high-security prisons, often in solitary confinement, and is currently based in HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes.
Earlier this year, Charles boasted that he “is coming home” as he claimed his parole hearing was due this summer. And this week, his first wife Irene Dunroe said he is 'not into crime anymore' and she "can't rest until he's out of prison” - as she revealed he still writes to her from his cell.
So who is Charles Bronson? And what crimes has he committed? Here we take a look at the life and times of one of the most high-profile criminals in Britain.
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Who is Charles Bronson and why is he in prison?
Now 69, Bronson was born Michael Gordon Peterson on December 6, 1952. He grew up in Luton, Bedfordshire - where his aunt and uncle each served as mayor.
As a teen, his family moved to Ellesmere Port in Cheshire, which is where he started getting into trouble at school. When he was older, he returned to Luton for work, with jobs including a factory worker and a furniture remover, but ended up getting involved in petty crime.
By the age of 22, the bare-knuckle boxer had been jailed for seven years in 1974 for armed robbery. But more time was added to his sentence due to attacks on guards and fellow prisoners - including attacking a fellow inmate with a glass jug and causing £100,000 of damage during a rooftop protest at HMP Liverpool in 1985, reports the Mirror.
When he was released, it wasn’t long before he was put back behind bars. In 1988 he robbed a jewellery shop and was sentenced to seven more years inside. He was released early in 1992, but returned again just 53 days later for intent to commit robbery.
By 1998, Bronson had carried out his most infamous offences. He took two Iraqi hijackers and another inmate hostage at Belmarsh prison in London, and insisted they call him 'General'.
He told negotiators he would eat one of his victims before demanding a helicopter to Cuba along with a cheese and pickle sandwich to end the stand off. But it wasn't until an incident in 1999 that he was finally given a life sentence.
Bronson kidnapped prison art teacher Phil Danielson and held him hostage for nearly two days after he criticised one of his paintings. Writing in his 2000 book Bronson, he said: "I'm a nice guy, but sometimes I lose all my senses and become nasty. That doesn't make me evil, just confused".
Over the years he has reportedly been involved in nine sieges, taking eleven hostages, has been accused of attacks on dozens of staff, including governors, and is said to have caused £500,000 of damage to the prison estate. He has spent time in institutions including Walton, Hull, Armley, Wakefield, Parkhurst, Walton, Wandsworth, Ashworth and Broadmoor, and associates inside have included the late gangster Kray Twins.
Apart from his offending behind bars, Bronson is known for his strength, having bent metal cell doors with his bare hands, reports the Mirror. His daily training regime includes up to 3,000 press-ups a day.
Charles’ name changes
When Bronson, then known as Michael, was released from prison in 1987, he embarked on a bare-knuckle boxing career in the East End of London. His promoter suggested he change his name to that of the Hollywood star of the Death Wish movies, and from then on he was known by the alias of Charles Bronson.
When he briefly converted to Islam in 2001, he became known as Charles Ali Ahmed after marrying Fatema Saira Rehman - a Muslim woman who had started to write to him during his time behind bars. Then, in 2004, it was announced that he was legally changing his name to Charles Salvador, in honour of the artist, Salvador Dali. However he still known as 'Charles Bronson' to many.
Marriages
Bronson first married before entering prison in 1971 to Irene Dunroe, who he shares one son with, Michael. Irene continued to visit him in prison when he was serving time for armed robbery. However the pair ended up divorcing in 1976.
In 2001, Bronson married again, this time to Saira Rehman, who began writing to him after seeing his picture in a newspaper. They divorced four years later.
He then proposed to Paula Williamson on Valentine's Day in 2017. He married the former Coronation Street actress in the prison chapel in November of that year. Sadly, two years later Paula was found dead at her home.
Will he be freed?
In June 2020, a High Court ruled in Bronson's favour for the right for his parole board meeting to be held in public. In March of this year, he revealed his hearing could take place this summer - declaring to the Mirror : “I’m coming home."
In a phone call from jail, he said: “I’ve got my jam roll [parole] coming up. All my reports are excellent.
“It’s looking good, it really is. I’m closer now to getting out than I have been in 30-odd years. Up to now there’s not a date, but it’s looking like June, July. I’m the first man in the British Isles to have a public parole hearing. All these decades I’ve done.”
And the hardman says he is as fit as the day he first walked into jail almost 50 years ago. He said: “I still smash my press-ups out... I can still do 95 press-ups in 30 seconds.
"I don’t walk on the yard, I run – sit-ups, press-ups, squats, I love it. When I go out on the yard that’s my hour of freedom. I’ve got a big smile, I’m happy. I’m walking out as fit as the day I came in. I’m coming home.”
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