Charles Bronson vows to ‘expose his unlawful treatment’
One of Britain’s longest-serving prisoners, Charles Bronson, is preparing for his ninth bid for freedom.
Bronson has spent some 50 years behind bars following an armed robbery in 1974, and a string of attacks against prison staff and other inmates.
Despite his extensive record, the 73-year-old, who now goes by the name Charles Salvador, has vowed to be freed one day.
He has hit out at the justice system that has kept him from the outside world for most of his life.
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Bronson, who has unsuccessfully tried to apply for parole eight times, said his sentence and treatment has been ‘unlawful’ and he vowed to ‘expose’ it.
Here is his scathing letter sent to Sky News.
Bronson wrote: ‘I am 23 years over my tariff. I am forever denied progress. I am forever kept in solitary. They won’t even take me off Cat A.
‘I have to expose this unlawful sentence and treatment. It’s now gone on for far to (sic) long its become a total joke.’
Bronson’s next Parole Board hearing will reportedly be an oral one instead of officers just relying on written evidence.
This means witnesses can be quizzed directly to assess Bronson’s level of risk right now.
Metro contacted the Ministry of Justice and the Parole Board for a comment. The MoJ said it cannot comment on individual prisoners.
Why is Charles Bronson in prison?
Bronson was first jailed in 1974 for seven years in jail for an armed robberywhen he was 22.
During his first stint in the clink, he befriended the infamous east London gangsters, the Kray brothers, who Bronson described as ‘decent human beings.’
Bronson was briefly released twice, during which he reoffended.
His later offences included thefts, firearms and violent crimes, including 11 hostage-taking incidents across nine different sieges.
In 2000, Bronson, was handed a discretionary life sentence after he held a prison teacher hostage for 44 hours at HMP Hull.
The inmate has told Metro that now his focus is on making art, which is helping him to discover his ‘true self.’
He said his art is a ‘gift of life’ that helps him not be wound up by ‘silly little things.’
His name change to Salvador was inspired by the Spanish surrealist painter, Salvador Dalí.
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