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Charles Bronson’s son says his dad 'has kept his nose clean' for the last 8 years and 'he wants a chance at freedom’
7 March 2023, 09:12
The son of Charles Bronson, one of Britain's most violent criminals, has admitted his father has been "awful" in prison but said he had "kept his nose clean for eight years" as he pleaded for him to get a chance at freedom.
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The parole hearing of Bronson, 70, started on Monday, as he bid to be released after 50 years behind bars in various stretches since 1968.
The convicted robber, who has also assaulted his fellow prisoners and taken 11 people hostage, has spent much of his time in solitary confinement or specialist units. It is believed he is still being held at high-security HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire
His son George Bamby told Nick Ferrari on Tuesday that his father thinks he has been in prison for "far too long".
He said: "The parole hearings come round every few years, so I know he’s really stressed at the moment. He’s got a lot on his mind - emotions are running high, because he obviously feels like he’s been kept in the system far too long.
Charles Bronson's son says his father feels he's been kept in the system 'far too long'.
"I mean he has been awful, he’s done a lot of really awful things, taking hostages and things like that.
"But for the last eight years or so, he’s not done anything wrong, he’s been working on managing his anger and all the rest of it. He hasn’t committed any offences inside for many years now.
"He just really wants to get out of prison, he wants a chance at his freedom."
In advance of his parole hearing, Bronson features in a new two-part documentary from Channel 4. In part one of Bronson: Fit to be free?, which aired on Monday night, he can be seen video calling Mr Bamby from his cell.
But his son told Nick that they had fallen out over the documentary, because Bronson was upset at his son's suggestion that he could still be violent when he got out. Mr Bamby said the filmmakers did not represent his comments accurately.
Mr Bamby described his father's violence as the result of "sheer and utter frustration", describing some of his treatment in prison as like "caging a wild animal".
Asked by Nick how his father would react if someone tried to provoke him outside of prison by pouring a pint over his head in a pub, Mr Bamby said he would "have a little word with them" but insisted he would not resort to violence.
It comes after Bronson told the parole board at his hearing, which is believed to be the second UK legal history to be held in public after the rules were changed last year, that he is "almost an angel now".
He told his parole hearing that he “dreams of walking on grass” and said he has changed his ways and promised no more “rumbles” behind bars.
Bronson told the panel that he now behaves like a "gentleman" and plans to go and live in the country if released.
"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."
But he also said he “loves a rumble” when questioned about several incidents that happened behind bars a few years ago.
Describing one incident, in which the parole review was told he stripped naked and "greased up", he said: "I took half a tub of Lurpak with me, stripped off and had the rumble of my life. It was f****** brilliant."
Addressing his time at Woodhill, he said: "I've had four years here now, I think I've outstayed my welcome."But he insists he has ways of managing his negative feelings.
"When I'm in my cell and I've got a bad letter, or something's happened, or someone has been nasty or whatever, I can sit in my cell now and switch off, and go into myself with deep breathing.
"Sometimes people push, push, push, take the piss, it's blatant piss-taking, and some people need a slap, it's as simple as that."
Bronson changed his name to Charles Arthur Salvador in 2014.
Read more: Charles Bronson seen from inside prison for first time in decades ahead of parole hearing
"Bronson was a nasty bastard," he said. "I wasn't a nice person and I didn't like him. Salvador is a man of peace. I feel peaceful."
Bronson previously said 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."I was a horrible person and I couldn't stop taking hostages," he told the parole board.
"I went through a phase, I couldn't help taking hostages. I was battling against the system... it was my way of getting back."There's nothing better than wrapping a governor up like a Christmas turkey.
"Referring to the prison art teacher he took hostage for three days in 1999, Bronson said he told him: "You've been my best hostage, you're the only one who hasn't s*** himself."
He was sentenced in 2000 to a discretionary life term with a minimum of four years over the incident. Since then the Parole Board has repeatedly refused to direct his release.
Bronson said that he's confident that he's changed and is confident that he'll be "coming home".
"The system have labelled me for so many years untameable, untreatable, unpredictable, dangerous, blah, blah, blah. I've had every label you can think of," he said.
"But at the end of the day what people don't realise, since George, my son, has come into my life, I've changed and... George has got me the best legal team in the world... I'm coming home, I'm definitely coming home."
