Britain’s most violent prisoner Charles Bronson today lost a Parole Board bid to be freed from jail.
The 70-year-old was first locked up for armed robbery in 1974, but during his time inside he has taken hostages in 10 prison sieges and attacked at least 20 prison officers.
Eventually, in 1999, he was handed a life sentence for kidnapping a prison art teacher.
In his parole appeal – which was only the second to be held in public – Bronson, who now goes by the surname Salvador, insisted he was a ‘man of peace’ who would not pose a threat to the public.
But today the Parole Board decided he remained a threat to the public, as they also ruled he should not be moved to an open prison.
Charles Bronson seen in a court sketch by the artist Elizabeth Cook
But in a document detailing their decision today, the 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.’
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.
In a voice note released to Sky News before his fate was revealed, Bronson insisted he no longer posed a threat.
‘They keep f***ing drumming it into the public I’m a danger. Who am I a danger to?’ he said.
‘I’ve never been a danger to the public. I love people, love ’em, I love the world. I’m not a f****** filthy terrorist or a rapist, or a murderer, so who am I dangerous to outside?’
He added: ‘I hate violence, I despise it and that’s all I’ve done for the last ten years, sit in my cell, a model prisoner, polite, respectful but they still won’t let me out.’
Bronson had been confident of securing his release, according to his ex wife Irene Duncroe, who revealed how he planned to celebrate.
Ms Dunroe, who still calls Bronson by his former name Mick Peterson, told The Mirror: ‘A Bentley car is going to come and pick him up when the day comes.
‘It’s going to take him straight to the greasiest spoon cafe he can find so he can have a double breakfast of everything – double sausage, double egg.’
Meanwhile, Bronson was hoping to star in a series of anti-knife crime videos with the rapper Ice T 21 after contacting him from prison.
Bronson claims to ‘hate violence’ and says he has never been a danger to the public
Bronson, pictured on his way to a parole hearing at the Old Bailey in 2004, was first locked up for armed robbery in 1974
Three parole judges considered his case during a hearing at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, 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 – whose real name is Michael Peterson and has previously been diagnosed with anti-social personality disorder – told parole judges he loved a ‘rumble’ and enjoyed mass brawls in prison, but insisted he is now a reformed prisoner, has found solace in art and is a man of ‘peace’.
He likened his experience in front of the Parole Board to being on BBC programme The Apprentice.
A psychologist told the panel Bronson has post-traumatic stress disorder after facing some ‘brutal and unacceptable’ treatment behind bars. He has been held in solitary confinement for much of his time in jail.
During the hearing he was described as holding ‘anti-authoritarian views’ and being ‘suspicious’ of the motives of others, as well as having a ‘romanticised’ view of violent incidents in the past.
None of the prison and probation officials who gave evidence at the parole hearing said he was ready to be released.
Bronson is the second inmate in UK legal history to have his case heard in public after rules were changed last year in a bid to remove the secrecy around the process.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline before today’s ruling, an ex-prison governor taken hostage by Bronson explained his fears the inmate would not be able to conform to strict parole conditions if released.
Adrian Wallace, 82, was tied up and repeatedly beaten by Bronson in a five-hour ordeal.
Bronson leaving the High Court in London during an earlier court hearing
CCTV footage shown in a Channel 4 documentary shows Bronson squaring up naked to officers in riot gear
Bronson received seven extra years on his sentence for the incident, but Mr Wallace suffered suspected PTSD which saw him leave the prison service on a disability pension some years later.
As he told the Parole Board: ‘I can assure the board that being taken hostage does have a significant effect on one’s mental stability long after the actual incident.
‘Post-traumatic stress disorder does kick in at regular intervals and flashbacks and other issues are not uncommon.’
He pointed out that Bronson has often stressed that he never killed anyone, but added: ‘He might wish to reflect on the lives that he has ruined, with particular attention being paid to the teacher at Hull special unit whom he took hostage and whose career and lifestyle was dramatically changed as a consequence.’
In one of Bronson’s frequent outbursts in the Parole hearing, he made it clear he certainly had no remorse in the case of Mr Wallace, shouting out: ‘Governor Wallace was an a*****e, is an a*****e and will die an a*****e.’
Adrian Wallace (pictured) was once taken hostage, tied up and beaten during five hours of hell at the hands of Charles Bronson. He says the violent criminal shouldn’t be freed from jail yet
CCTV footage shows Bronson attacking prison art teacher Phil Danielson with a homemade spear
In 2000, Bronson was handed a life sentence for kidnapping prison art teacher Phil Danielson in Hull Prison the previous year.
In a 43-hour ordeal, Mr Danielson was beaten and stabbed, and was left with panic attacks and PTSD and has never worked again.
He has previously mocked the conditions which ex-prisoners have to follow on release.
In an interview in 2021, Bronson said: ‘Let’s just say they say I’m not allowed to walk past the Post Office, well, how do I know if there’s a Post Office round the f*****g corner?
‘Now in a paedophile’s case they’re not allowed to walk past schools, but how do they know if there’s a school round the corner?
‘And you’re not allowed to talk to girls? Well, what happens if a girl talks to you.
‘I’m going to be on very thin ice out there. But at least it’s half freedom.
‘The only thing I’m not looking forward to is that f*****g tag on my ankle – for three months I think. How do you ever shower with that on?
‘How do you put your socks on? I won’t be able to wear my suspenders and tights with them!’
