Bronson said people wrongly think he is a serial killer because he’s been jailed so long
Britain’s most notorious prisoner Charles Bronson has begged for his freedom in an audio message sent from his cell at Woodhill jail, saying “It’s an absolute Liberty. I’m 70 years old now.”
Bronson urged the justice secretary Dominic Raab to set him free after spending nearly 50 years behind bars, noting that in the last five years he had not added to the series of violent attacks on prison staff that had kept him incarcerated so long.
In the message to Sky News, Bronson, who now goes by the name Charles Salvador in a nod to his hero, Salvador Dali, said: “I bet you can’t believe I’m still in, can you?
“It’s an absolute liberty. I’m 70 years old now, 70 years old. I’ve never murdered anyone; I’ve never raped anyone. What am I in jail for? People don’t believe it. They think I’m a serial killer.”
Bronson’s solicitor, Dean Kingham, urged Raab to grant Bronson’s release under the Prerogative of Mercy, which would not require the criminal to go before the Parole Board.
The broadcaster quoted him as saying Bronson “has not been violent for a significant number of years and his risk is primarily towards prison governors.
“The evidence in excess of the last five years is clear that his risk of violence has significantly reduced.”
The solicitor added that “whilst there was a risk to the public, it’s never been as severe as that towards prison staff and governors” and noted that there is “very good psychological research evidence that as someone ages the risk of violence decreases”.
Bronson was jailed for seven years for armed robbery in 1974. Except for two short stints of freedom he’s been in prison ever since, for other robberies and violent attacks on prison guards and governors.
In 1999, Bronson took an art teacher, who had criticised his drawing ability, hostage in Hull Prison and, wielding homemade weapons, tugged him along with a skipping rope around his neck for two days.
He was given a life sentence with a minimum term of three years and has been turned down for parole ever since. Three years ago, Bronson stood trial and was acquitted on a charge of attempted grievous bodily harm on a governor at Wakefield jail.
Bronson is about to submit a new parole application and Sky News noted it is likely to be the first ever held in public because last year his legal team won a High Court ruling to establish a prisoner’s right to a public parole hearing.
Kingham said Bronson had become a “a political prisoner” with Ministry of Justice officials blocking his ability to demonstrate his progress and be moved to a less restrictive prison.
Bronson, Sky News reported, ended his recording by saying, he can still do 95 press-ups in 30 seconds, “so I’m still the guv’nor”.
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