Charles Bronson: Notorious inmate loses latest bid for freedom

Notorious prisoner Charles Bronson has lost his latest bid to be freed from jail, the Parole Board has said.

The panel said he had a “history of persistent rule-breaking”, “lives his life rigidly by his own rules” and was not suitable for release.

Bronson, 70, from Luton, was jailed aged 22 for armed robbery in 1974.

Now one of the UK’s longest-serving prisoners, he took part in one of the country’s first public parole hearings earlier this month.

Bronson, who changed his surname to Salvador in 2014, is currently held at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes and has earned a reputation as a violent and dangerous inmate.

In a document detailing the decision, the Parole Board said: “After considering the circumstances of his offending, the progress that Mr Salvador has made while in custody and the evidence presented at the hearings, the panel was not satisfied that Mr Salvador was suitable for release.

“Nor did the panel recommend to the Secretary of State that he should be transferred to an open prison.”

However, the panel said psychologists instructed by Bronson’s legal representative were “unequivocal in their view” that he no longer required secure placement at HMP Woodhill.

“It is unclear whether the strong external controls of custody are mainly responsible or whether his attitudes have genuinely changed,” the board said.

“The panel could not be satisfied that Mr Salvador has the skills to manage his risk of future violence until he has been extensively tested outside of his current highly restricted environment.

“In the particular circumstances of this case the panel observed that there is an identified pathway for Salvador in custody and the evidence supported such a move within a closed prison.

“This is a pivotal point in Mr Salvador’s sentence when his motivation to desist from violence is at its highest.”

Bronson has spent most of the past 48 years behind bars – apart from two brief periods of freedom during which he reoffended – for a string of thefts, firearms and violent offences, including 11 hostage-taking incidents in nine different sieges.

Victims included governors, doctors, staff and, on one occasion, his own solicitor.

Bronson was handed a discretionary life sentence with a minimum term of four years in 2000 for taking a prison teacher at HMP Hull hostage for 44 hours.

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

Three parole judges considered his case during a hearing at HMP Woodhill, while members of the press and public watched part of the proceedings on a live stream from the Royal Courts of Justice in central London.

Bronson told the panel he loved a “rumble” and enjoyed mass brawls in prison, but insisted he was now a reformed prisoner, had found solace in art and was a man of “peace”.

He likened his experience in front of the Parole Board to being on BBC programme, The Apprentice.

The panel was told Bronson spent 23 hours a day in his cell with limited contact with other inmates.

But it heard he would not cope with being released – even highlighting that he had never used a cash machine.

Bronson told the Parole Board hearing: “Of the 50 years I have been in prison I have probably deserved a good 35 of it.

“Because I have been very naughty. Not naughty-naughty but just naughty.

“Give me a chance, a break, to prove to you people that I am just a normal geezer wanting to get on with his life.”

Find BBC News: East of England on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. If you have a story suggestion email eastofenglandnews@bbc.co.uk