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Parole DENIED AGAIN For Notorious Prisoner Charles Bronson
Notorious Inmate Charles Bronson asks Coronation Street Actress Girlfriend to Marry Him >
Charles Bronson's Fiancée Insists She Will Marry Her 'Gentle Giant' IN PRISON as She Insists Their Relationship is The 'Real Deal' and Not a Publicity Stunt
- Charles Bronson, 64, proposed to actress Paula Williamson, 36, on the phone
- He serenaded her with a personalised version of My Way by Frank Sinatra
- She said: 'I do know Charlie and this is the real deal. I'm very excited to be his fiancée because I'm in love with the man. That's the god's honest truth.'
- She claims to have fallen for Bronson after 'reading his book about Broadmoor'
- Bronson has been in prison for 41 years and has a history of violent behaviour
Daily Mail UK, 24 February 2017
In love: Britain's most violent prisoner Charles Bronson, 64, proposed to Paula Williamson by serenading her with a personalised version of the Frank Sinatra classic My Way from a HMP Wakefield pay phone
Charles Bronson's fiancee today revealed she will marry her 'gentle giant' inside jail as soon as possible despite the 'huge risk' of only having met him four times.
Britain's most violent prisoner, 64, proposed to Paula Williamson by serenading her with a personalised version of the Frank Sinatra classic My Way from a HMP Wakefield pay phone.
They are getting married even though though they met for the first time last September - and only three times since then.
Their only physical contact has been 'kissing through bars' and she now has a 'ritual' of seductively eating a banana in front of Bronson 'for his viewing pleasure.'
The former Coronation Streetactress, 36, denies that she is marrying Bronson as a publicity stunt to relaunch her career.
She told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'He's a gentle giant and he is a gentleman. He's very, very caring. He's never hurt a woman, he's never hurt a child.
'He's the first to admit his crimes, but he has served his time for those crimes. He's served fourteen years over his time for those crimes.'
She added: 'I do know Charlie and this is the real deal. I'm very excited to be his fiancée because I'm in love with the man. That's the god's honest truth.'
The dangerous inmate proposed to his girlfriend by serenading her with a personalised version of the Frank Sinatra classic My Way.
Couple: The former Coronation Street actress, 36, denies that she is marrying Bronson as a publicity stunt to relaunch her career.
Paula said she completely understands why people would question why she's marrying Britain's most notorious prisoner - but says it is the 'real deal'
Campaign: In 2014 Bronson changed his surname to Salvador in honour of artist Salvador Dali - he is up for parole later this year and Miss Wiliamson wore a supportive wristband today
Bronson popped the question to his former Coronation Streetactress on Valentine's Day in a telephone call from HMP Wakefield to her home in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.
Sparkler: Bronson, who has been married twice and engaged three times, is believed to have saved up for the ring he gave his fiancee
He had a diamond cluster ring delivered before asking her 'Do you want to be my missus?'.
The 64-year-old sang 'Our Way', altering some of the lyrics, and sang: 'We've lived a crazy life and travelled in and out of darkness. But more, much more than this, we did it our way.'
Paula said she completely understands why people would question why she's marrying Britain's most notorious prisoner.
Paula said: 'Yes, Charlie's the first to admit that he's done a lot of terrifying things and I'm aware of those things.
'However, the Charlie that I know is not the same person that's committed all those offences while he's been incarcerated.
'He is that person, he's committed these offences and he's made these mistakes, but he's a different character now. He's 64-years-old and he's 14 years over the tariff he should be. He's up for parole this year anyway.'
Paula - an actress who has had small parts in Emmerdale and Coronation Street - insists the engagement is not a publicity stunt: 'No, not at all, not at all. I can [have a normal marriage with him] when he's released. We don't know yet [when that will be] - he's got a parole hearing later this year. If I was doing it for any kind of publicity reasons, I wouldn't get married to Britain's most notorious prisoner, it would make no sense.
'I can understand that they [the public] would think that [this is complete madness]. This is going to brand me now. I'm branded now. I love him.
'I've not deliberately sought him for that [publicity] reason. I wrote to him because I connected with him with a book I read that he'd written called Broadmoor. It was about his time and I found his spirit phenomenal and very inspiring.'
Lifer: Bronson (top, the last time he was freed), (and in 2004), has spent much of his time in jail in solitary confinement due to his history of violence - he may never be released from jail.
Quizzed on why she'd choose this relationship over one with someone not in prison, Paula said: 'If only I could have met him outside of this situation how wonderful that would be. However, he is where he is and I've met him and I can't deny chemistry, I can't deny when you fall in love with somebody, I cannot deny that. I'm taking a huge risk here - I've been sacked from one of my jobs already [because of this relationship]. I'm promoting Charlie's cause.'
Britain's 'most violent prisoner' Charles Bronson is said to have proposed to his actress girlfriend Paula Williamson when she visited him at HMP Wakefield last week, pictured
Of the lack of intimacy, Paula insisted: 'Not every couple are intimate for a long time. We can't kind of comment on that as an entirety. It's the real deal. I left drama school in 2005 and I've been working as a jobbing actress, a lot of my work isn't just TV it's other things, but now because I'm known as Charlie Bronson's fiancée that's going to tarnish certain things.'
Speaking of the wedding itself, Paula said: We'll get married in prison, within the prison chapel, depending on where he is at that point.
'We've spoken about [who will be there]. I believe there's about ten guests allowed and there'll be a selection of Charlie and I's family friends.'
The couple exchanged letters while Bronson was engaged to his former partner Lorraine Etherington, secretary of the Charles Bronson Art Foundation which raises money for charity by promoting his drawings.
He proposed to her in 2015 but the couple later split and it is believed he did not meet Miss Williamson until after the end of that relationship.
Bronson, who has been married twice and engaged three times, is believed to have saved up for the ring despite previously getting 'knock-off versions' for his partners.
The notorious prisoner and former bare-knuckle boxer was first jailed in 1974 and has spent a total of 41 years in prison, having had his sentence increased previously for attacking fellow inmates and taking people hostage.
The actress has appeared in several British soaps and said they are a 'perfect match'
Miss Williamson, pictured appearing as a stripper on Emmerdale, said she had been in relationships with 'both men and women' in the past but 'none come close to her love for Charlie'
The pair are said to have been together for five months and are 'determined to make the relationship work' despite him being in prison.
Bronson – whose life was made into a 2009 film starring Tom Hardy as the prisoner - has been married twice before, first to Irene Bronson, whom he divorced in 1977 after a five-year marriage.
The couple had one child - Michael - who was born in 1970. Bronson then married Fatema Saira Rehman, a Bangladeshi-born divorcee, in 2001 after the pair had corresponded after she saw a picture of him in a newspaper.
He briefly converted to Islam during the second marriage, which ended after four years.
Asked about whether their marriage would go the same way Paula said: 'I am a different person to what she is'.
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Notorious: Charles Bronson
The Man, The Myth and The Moustache.
The armed robber's life - so much of which has been spent in solitary confinement - so fascinates the country that he has even been the subject of a film and played by none other than Tom Hardy, who he counts as a friend.
But what do we really know about the man who rechristened himself Charles Salvador, in honour or artist Salvador Dali, because of his love of painting?
Well, for one thing, we know he got engaged to Paula Williamson on Valentines day this year because his fiancee allowed us to record the phone call in which he did it.
But here are some little known facts about him that throw a little more light on the mysterious man behind bars.
Some examples of Bronson's art, which he creates inside HMP Wakefield
1. Born Michael Gordon Peterson in 1952 to a respectable middle-class family in Aberystwyth, West Wales, he would eventually move on to Liverpool and then Luton where he would go on to earn a living as a circus strongman.
2. Bronson changed his name to that of the Hollywood star of the Death Wish films after a bare knuckle fight promoter said it would be a bigger pull than his real name, Michael Peters.
3. Bronson was originally jailed for seven years for armed robbery in 1974 at the age of 19, and has had a series of sentences added to his original term over the years for attacking inmates and prison staff along with over a dozen hostage taking incidents.
Matt Gardiner of the End of the Line tattoo studio, Treherbert, south Wales won a Best in Show prize with this Bronson beauty (Photo: Wales Online)
Charles Bronson: "I told Serial Killer Rose West to hang herself after she sent me love letter from jail"
4. To date he's has served over 34 years in prison and solitary confinement, spending just 131 days as a free man since his initial imprisonment.
He was released in October 1988 and spent 68 days as a free man before being arrested for robbery. He also tasted freedom in November 1992 for 53 days, before inevitably returning to jail for conspiracy to rob.
He remains a Category A prisoner in Wakefield high-security prison where he is still in solitary confinement
Bronson, pictured here in February 2000, is known to dislike this photo
5. Weighing 210lbs and standing five feet ten and a half inches tall, Bronson is renowned for his strength, having bent metal cell doors with his bare hands. His daily training regime includes up to 3,000 press-ups a day.
6. Bronson holds six world records for feats of strength and fitness and well as an unofficial record for the most prison rooftop protests by any UK inmate.
7. He carried out his most infamous hostage incident in 1998, when he took two Iraqi hijackers and another inmate hostage at Belmarsh prison in London.
Insisting his hostages call him "General", he told negotiators he would eat one of his victims before demanding a helicopter to Cuba along with a cheese and pickle sandwich to end the stand off.
In 2000 he was jailed for life after being convicted of holding a teacher hostage for nearly two days during a jail siege.
Tom Hardy plays Bronson in the film of the same name (Photo: Vertigo Films)
8. In recent years, Bronson has become a published author and cartoonist. Among his eleven books, is a health and fitness guide in which he shares some of the secrets behind his legendary muscle power. Profits raised from his work go to children's animal charities.
9. First married in December 1970 to Irene, he has one son named Michael.
In 2001, Bronson married again, this time to Saira Rehman, who began writing to him after seeing his picture in a newspaper.
Following his wedding, Bronson briefly converted to Islam and took the name Charles Ali Ahmed. He later renounced the religion and the name when the pair divorced. He became engaged to Paul Williamson on February 14, 2017.
10. Bronson's infamy grew with the release of a biopic charting his eventful life. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, it features Tom Hardy in the starring role alongside Silent Witness star Amanda Burton.
10 Truly Bizarre Facts About The Most Insane Prisoner In England
If you didn’t grow up in England, there’s a chance you’ve never heard of Charles Bronson. And if you’re lucky, you’ll never actually meet the guy. He’s a well-spoken, eccentric man who, after carrying out bizarre and outlandish crimes, achieved a weird notoriety among the British public over the last few decades and has became an iconic but tragic figure. And even though he’s never killed anyone, he’s spent more time in jail than most of Britain’s mass murderers. Here are just a few facts about his life.
10. A 40-Year Sentence
Tom Hardy plays Bronson in the film of the same name (Photos: Vertigo Films)
Charles Bronson is Britain’s most notorious prisoner. For 40 years, prison staff all over Britain have struggled to contain him due to his massive strength, propensity toward violence, and growing popularity.
It all started in 1974 when Charles Bronson (then still Michael Peterson) was arrested for a robbery where he tried to get away with the princely sum of £26 (about $43). He was sentenced to seven years in prison—with good behavior he’d be released in four. But to this day, Bronson’s spent more than 40 years behind bars due to a series of increasingly violent and bizarre acts.
Since 1974, he’s been to more than 120 prisons across the United Kingdom, attacked more than 20 prison guards (and countless prisoners), taken 11 hostages, and caused more than half a million pounds in damages. If one sentence could sum up Charles Bronson it would be the quote that adorns one of his own books:
“I fear no one. Violence just makes me madder and stronger.”.....
9. The Rooftop Protests
In 1978, Bronson was declared insane and sent to Broadmoor Hospital, which is basically Britain’s version of Arkham Asylum—the most secure facility for people who are criminally insane in the UK.
Although violent, Bronson didn’t see himself as insane and during this time he again proved to be a problematic prisoner. He alleges that he was badly mistreated, forcibly injected with anti-psychotic medication that left him wracked with painful muscular spasms, and regularly beaten by prison staff.
He protested by escaping to the roof and staying up there for “the best part of a week” before being talked down by his brother, after which he was again savagely beaten for the infraction.
It’s estimated that he caused a staggering £750,000 worth of damage to the roof in that one incident alone. While he was at Broadmoor, he escaped to the roof another two times. He was later released after being diagnosed sane, but went on to carry out rooftop protests another five times at different prisons. According to the man himself, “I’ve been on more roofs than Santa Claus.”
8. His Fitness Regime
In 2007, Charles Bronson released a fitness book documenting his prison workout routine calledSolitary Fitness. It explains how someone can get ripped without workout machines, supplements, expensive sports clothing, or health food. Basically, it explains how someone who has spent most of his life locked in solitary confinement can become an unstoppable juggernaut like himself.
According to him, his techniques can give you extreme power. He talks about a technique called the Solitary Cow Punch, which is so strong that he says he’s used it to knock out a cow. He claims his fitness regime also allows him to punch through bulletproof glass, kick down steel doors, lift grown men above his head, and drop 9 meters (30 ft) without injuring himself.
Although the book sounds like it was written by a man who’s no stranger to shameless hyperbole, there may be something in it. It’s a documented fact that Charles Bronson has exhibited almost superhuman strength during his time inside. For example, he’s been known to bend steel cell doors with nothing but his bare hands and he once held a world record for push-ups—he claims to do 2,000 every day.
Among other things, the book documents some of the other supremely weird techniques he uses, such as flossing his nostrils with twine and using his stomach muscles to irrigate his colon by sitting in a bowl of water and, well, sucking up the water. He also cleans his stomach by swallowing strips of wet cloth and pulling them back out again. You probably shouldn’t try that at home.
7. 69 Days Of Freedom
While in jail, Charles Bronson met and befriended Ronnie and Reggie Kray, Britain’s most violent and dangerous gangsters. Bronson described them as “the best two guys I’ve ever met in my life.”
In 1987, Bronson was due to be released and was looking for something to do on the outside. He was introduced to a friend of the Krays who set up him up as an illegal bare-knuckle prizefighter.
It was at this time that Bronson first started calling himself Charles Bronson after the actor from the Death Wish movies. During his career as a prizefighter, he was involved in at least one fight where he fought a rottweiler for £1,000. He only managed to spend 69 days outside before being arrested for another attempted robbery.
6. Serial Hostage Taking
As mentioned earlier, Charles Bronson has taken a staggering 11 people hostage in his 40-plus years of prison. In 1994, Bronson took a guard hostage and demanded a helicopter and a blow-up doll.
After that, no other prison wanted to take Bronson due to his reputation. The Governor of Hull gave him a chance and was willing to believe that Bronson would behave this time. Instead, Bronson took him hostage.
In 1996, Bronson took two Iraqi terrorists and a third prisoner hostage after one of them accidentally bumped into him and didn’t apologize. During the hostage situation, he forced them to tickle his feet and call him “general.”
The experience for these hostages must have been pretty terrifying. At one point, he tried to force them to hit him over the head with a heavy, metal tray and when they refused, he grabbed a razor blade and began to slash his upper body. This time his demands included Uzi machine guns, an axe, thousands of rounds of ammo, a cheese sandwich, and a helicopter to Cuba. If the demands weren’t met, he threatened to eat one of the prisoners. He didn’t get any of that stuff and eventually gave up.
5. Bronson’s Art Career
With all those years in prison, Bronson has had plenty of time to develop a reputation as an “outsider artist.” He’s won seven Koestler awards for art and poetry and has had his work featured—illegally—on the London Underground as well as published in several newspapers and magazines (with all the proceeds donated, by him, to children’s hospices).
However, it all went wrong when Bronson’s prison art teacher, Phil Danielson, took a vested interest in Bronson as a gifted student. He got pretty close to Bronson and their relationship blossomed into something like trust until one day he was overly critical of one of Bronson’s paintings.
Bronson lost it. He tied up Danielson with a skipping rope and then fashioned a spear out of a knife and a pool cue and held Danielson hostage for 44 hours, all the while gibbering, ranting and raving, and forcing Danielson to march around the room for his amusement. Bronson will probably never be released after this incident—it garnered him a life sentence. Danielson, traumatized by the incident, will probably never work again.
4. Bronson The Spy
In 2001, Charles Bronson was contacted by a Muslim woman named Saira who had seen his picture in the paper and become fascinated by him. She wrote to Bronson and he wrote back, and pretty soon they got married. He was 48 and she was 31. Later that year, Bronson changed his name to Ali Charles Ahmed in honor of his new wife’s father and converted to Islam. According to Bronson’s book Loonyology, he was later visited by two people he believes were government spies.
Two mysterious men in dark suits arrived one day and tried to recruit him to spy on other Muslim prisoners. When he asked them who they were, they said, “It’s not who we are, it’s what we are.” Bronson refused their offer by spitting in their faces, and they left after threatening that there would be repercussions. According to prison officials, the incident never happened.
The marriage ended up lasting four years before the two got divorced and Ali Charles Ahmed renounced Islam and became Charles Bronson once again.
3. Bronson, The Movie
In 2009, Charles Bronson’s life story was made into a movie with Tom Hardy in the role of Bronson. Tom Hardy visited Bronson in prison multiple times to get a grip on the character and described Bronson as “a very articulate, gentle, funny, and clever man.”
Although Hardy was quick to condemn Bronson’s violent acts, he stressed that it was his duty as an actor to understand the character he was playing without getting judgmental about it. Bronson really liked Tom Hardy, and Hardy was desperate to make sure that he didn’t upset Bronson with his performance in case he ended up “rolled up in a carpet and dropped to the bottom of the Thames.”
So while filming, he made sure to have a close friend of Bronson’s on hand for questions and spent a lot of time with Bronson’s family. Bronson was so into the whole idea of being immortalized in film that he actually shaved off his iconic mustache and sent it to Tom to wear in the movie.
2. The Campaign For His Release
Charles Bronson is now over 60 years old. He’s been in jail for over two-thirds of his life and is kept in isolation at all times with five guards assigned to make sure there isn’t an incident every time he moves.
Despite the fact that every appeal he’s made has been denied, his case has recently been the center of a campaign for his release that’s gathered 10,000 signatures. Bronson’s supporters argue that he has spent more time in jail than most murderers (Charles Bronson’s incidents, although violent, have never resulted in a death) and that he has recently turned over a new leaf, renouncing his old, violent ways.
His supporters are now planning a fourth appeal, and if that fails they will lobby the European Court of Human Rights. This means that if he plays his cards right, he could be released in just a few years. Unfortunately, that probably won’t happen.
1. His Latest Incidents
Despite now being old enough to qualify for a pension, Charles Bronson was recently involved in an attack on a prison officer that saw him moved to another jail.
Another incident so bizarre and violent that it’s been making headlines happened a few months later. In May 2014, he was watching the FA cup final between Arsenal and Hull and found himself incensed at Arsenal’s victory. He says that he saw the ghost of Ronnie Kray encouraging him to start a riot with the guards.
So, using his own internal logic, he stripped naked and covered himself in butter so that he would be harder to restrain and attacked at least a dozen guards in full riot gear, breaking a few of his ribs in the process. With that we can assume that Charles Bronson is pretty much the same as he ever will be: fascinatingly complex and utterly completely bonkers.
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