Charles Bronson: Notorious prisoner loses latest freedom bid

The Parole Board has announced that Charles Bronson has failed in his most recent attempt to be released from prison.

According to the panel, he has a “history of repeated rule-breaking” and “lives his life rigidly by his own rules,” making him unfit for release.

1974 saw Bronson, now 70 years old and from Luton, incarcerated for armed robbery at 22.

Earlier this month, he participated in one of the country’s first public parole hearings as one of the longest-serving prisoners in the UK.

Bronson, whose surname was changed to Salvador in 2014, is incarcerated at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes and has a reputation for being a violent and dangerous offender.

In a paper describing the judgment, the Parole Board stated, “After reviewing the circumstances of Mr. Salvador’s offense, his rehabilitation while incarcerated, and the information given at the hearings, the panel was not convinced that Mr. Salvador was suitable for release.

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Nor did the panel propose that he be transferred to an open jail to the Secretary of State.

George Bamby, the son of Charles Manson, responded to the decision by stating, “I would have liked Charlie to be released, but I respect the Parole Board’s decision.”

According to the panel, Bronson no longer required secure placement in HMP Woodhill, as determined by psychologists instructed by Bronson’s legal lawyer.

“It is uncertain whether the strict external controls of his confinement are primarily responsible or whether his attitudes have truly changed,” the board stated.

“The panel could not be convinced that Mr. Salvador can manage his future risk of violence until he has undergone extensive testing outside his current minimal surroundings.

“Given the specific circumstances of this case, the panel noticed a designated path for Salvador within a closed prison, and the evidence supported such a transfer.”

“This is a key moment in Mr. Salvador’s term when he is most motivated to refrain from violence.”

Bronson has spent most of the past 48 years behind bars, except for two brief periods of freedom during which he reoffended, for a series of robberies, guns, and violent crimes, including 11 hostage-taking episodes in nine separate sieges.

His victims included governors, doctors, staff, and once his solicitor.

In 2000, Bronson was given a life sentence with a minimum term of four years for holding a prison instructor at HMP Hull hostage for 44 hours.

Since then, the Parole Board has repeatedly declined to direct his release.

Three parole judges reviewed his case during a hearing at HMP Woodhill, while members of the press and the public viewed a live webcast of the proceedings from the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

Bronson told the panel that he loved a “rumble” and enjoyed mass brawls in prison but argued that he was now a reformed prisoner, had found consolation in art, and was a “peaceful” man.

He compared his experience before the Parole Board to appearing on the BBC show The Apprentice.

According to the panel, Bronson reportedly spent 23 hours a day in his cell, with limited contact with other convicts.

But, it was determined that he would not be able to handle his release, including that he had never used a cash machine.

At his parole board hearing, Bronson stated, “Of the fifty years I have spent in prison, I have probably merited at least thirty-five of them.

“Because I have been pretty naughty, yet not naughty-naughty. “Give me an opportunity, a break, to demonstrate that I’m just a regular guy who wants to move on with his life.”