Charles Bronson could be granted freedom TODAY in parole board showdown
CHARLES Bronson could be granted freedom today with a parole board showdown set to decide his fate.
Britain’s most notorious lag, 70, could finally be released after 50 years in prison.
However, the parole board panel is not expected to grant Bronson his freedom and even his secondary plea – a move to an open jail.
If the notorious inmate does fail his eighth parole bid it could be suggested he gets a gradual reduction in the strict security that surrounds him at HM Prison Woodhill in Milton Keynes.
He is currently only allowed out of his cell for 90 minutes a day.
During his parole hearing, Royal Courts Of Justice in London earlier this month, Bronson admitted he had no remorse about taking a governor hostage, had won £1,500 placing football bets behind bars and loved fighting in jail house brawls.
He said: “I was born to have a rumble, I love to have a rumble.
“But I’m 70 now. It can become embarrassing. You have to grow up sooner or later.”
However, the elderly lag has vowed never to fight again if he walks free and said that he plans to live like a “gentleman” in the country.
FREEDOM BID
Bronson was first jailed, aged 21, for seven years in 1974 after being convicted of armed robbery – and it’s been his lifestyle ever since.
He later attempted to strangle inmate Gordon Robinson while at secure psychiatric hospital Broadmoor, before causing £250,000 worth of damage when he staged a three-day protest on a rooftop.
The lag was released in 1987 but soon returned a year later for intent to commit robbery.
After holding three men hostage in his cell, the Luton criminal saw another five years added to his sentence.
Following further acts of violence behind bars, he was finally given a life sentence after kidnapping prison teacher Phil Danielson in 1999.
Bronson – who changed his name to Charles Salvador in 2014 – told the board he did feel remorse for attacking Mr Danielson.
But did not have the same sympathy for a governor he took hostage – resulting in the victim suffering rom PTSD.
Bronson said: “That was 30 years ago and I’ve moved on from that long ago.
“Governor Adrian Wallace was an a***hole, is an a***hole and will die an a***hole.”
UK’S MOST NOTORIOUS LAG
Bronson’s campaign of crimes include holding 11 people hostage across nine sieges with victims being governors, doctors and even his own solicitor.
He has also spent numerous spells in solitary confinement and specialist units for his violent outbursts towards other inmates.
In a recent Channel 4 documentary, the lag insisted he had reformed and is now “anti-crime, anti-violent”.
He also said he can “taste freedom” ahead of the hearing.
Bronson added: “I’ve got a horrible, violent, nasty past, but I’ve never killed anybody and I’ve never hurt a woman.
“I’m focused, I’m settled, I can actually smell and taste freedom like I’ve never, ever done in me life
“I’m now anti-crime and anti-violence. So why the f*** am I still in prison?”
But Bronson’s offender manager told the parole board she raised concerns about him fitting into society.
When asked what her worries are about him being released, she said: “That he would struggle in the community, that he would not have the skills to cope with such a vast change.”
She was not supportive of his release from prison and added: “I think Mr Salvador has come a long way, but he still has a long way to go.”
But an independent psychologist told the panel, at the Royal Courts Of Justice, he would be less of a risk free than banged up.
She said: “He would be less of a risk in a community environment than a prison environment.
“I stand by that assessment.”
She suggested the “perfect environment would be open conditions”.
When he was quizzed about difficult situations he might face if released, Bronson – wearing a black suit, white shirt and round dark-tinted sunglasses – told the board via video link: “If some muppet wants to fight me or cause me problems I will handle it in a different way.”
He added: “Give a man a break. We could be sitting around this table until the cow jumps over the moon talking the same old crap.
“I’m just a normal geezer wanting to get on with his life.”