Charles Bronson's latest bid for freedom as son banned from parole hearing

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Charles Bronson will have a public parole hearing this week (Image: Lindsey Parnaby/REX/Shutterstock)
Charles Bronson will have a public parole hearing this week (Image: Lindsey Parnaby/REX/Shutterstock)

Britain's most notorious prisoner Charles Bronson is making his latest bid for freedom this week - but has banned his "long-lost" son from the public parole hearing.

The Parole Board review of one of the UK's longest-serving prisoners to decide whether he should remain behind bars begins on Monday, making him the second inmate in UK legal history to have his case heard in public.

Bronson - who has been dubbed one of the most violent offenders in the country - has been in prison for much of the last 50 years, often spending time in solitary confinement or specialist units.

The prisoner, who changed his surname to Salvador in 2014 after the artist Salvador Dali, has decided to ban George Bamby from the parole hearing as he fears that his son's claims in an explosive TV documentary may undermine his chances of freedom.

Charles Bronson's latest bid for freedom as son banned from parole hearing qhiqhhiuuiqhtinvGeorge Bamby-Salvador, Bronson's 'long-lost' son (Channel 4)

Bronson is said to be furious and "gutted" after his son took part in a Channel 4 show called Fit To Be Free?, reports the Daily Star Sunday.

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In the two-part documentary, George said: "I could be being completely f****ing manipulated by my old dad and he could get out of prison and fall out with me one day and kick the living f***ing shit out of me one day and stab me with a bread knife."

A source said: "Charles was gutted. George is dead to Charles now, he will never forgive him for what he feels is stitching him up with this documentary."

George reunited with his father in 2018, after getting a 99.98% DNA match.

In the documentary, George said: "Quite a lot of the time I find myself on occasion posting out little toys for some of his girlfriends.

Charles Bronson's latest bid for freedom as son banned from parole hearingArt made by Charles Bronson (Grab)

"In fact, I've got one at the moment where he sent me the name and address of some young lady - well, not young lady, she's about 40-odd - that he's been talking to for a while.

"He really likes her and he wants me to post something out to her."

His wife, Maz, added: "He [Bronson] likes to please his girlfriends and that's the only way he can send them gifts of certain things."

In each gift, Bronson asked to add a note saying: "I'll be out in a few months, while I'm still in here, here's something to keep you occupied."

Charles Bronson's latest bid for freedom as son banned from parole hearingGeorge and Charles Bronson during a visit in prison (Channel 5)

Bronson previously told how he was first sent to jail in 1968 and has held 11 hostages in nine different sieges - with victims including governors, doctors, staff and, on one occasion, his own solicitor.

He was sentenced in 2000 to a discretionary life term with a minimum of four years for taking a prison teacher at HMP Hull hostage for 44 hours. Since then, the Parole Board has repeatedly refused to direct his release.

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In a Channel 4 documentary which aired last week, he said he can "smell and taste freedom" ahead of the parole hearing.

During the programme, he is seen video calling his son George Bamby from his maximum security cell, reportedly at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire.

Discussing the prospect of his parole review, Bronson insisted he had reformed, talked about how he has turned to art while behind bars and hopes to be released so he can enjoy "what's left" of his life.

"I've got a horrible, nasty, vicious, violent past (but) I've never killed anyone, I've never harmed a woman, never harmed a child," he said.

"I'm focused, I'm settled, I can actually smell and taste freedom like I've never, ever done in (my) life. I'm now anti-crime, anti-violent.

"What the f*** am I still in prison for?"

Bronson was the first prisoner to formally ask for a public hearing after rules changed last year in a bid to remove the secrecy around the parole process.

Members of the public and the press will be able to observe the proceedings - which continue on Wednesday - via a live stream. But the third and final day of the hearing will take place behind closed doors on Friday.

Chiara Fiorillo

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