- Born Michael Peterson 0n 6 December 1952, his name was changed by his fight promoter in 1987. It had nothing to do with the actor Charles Bronson's film "Death Wish" as is usually reported in the newspapers.
- He is now 57 years of age.
- He has NEVER killed anyone or harmed a woman or a child!
- He was originally sentenced to 7 years in 1974 for armed robbery - a robbery in which no one was hurt.
- He has now spent over 36 years in prison, 32 of those years have been spent in solitary confinement.
- He has been subject to both physical and psychological brutality throughout his incarceration.
- He was released on 30 October 1988 and spent 68 days as a free man.
- Released again on 9 November 1992 and spent 53 days as a free man.
- He has not been allowed to mix with other prisoners since 1999 (HMP Hull CSC unit with 5 others).
- In 2000 he was sentenced to LIFE with a three year tariff for holding a teacher hostage for 44 hours - a teacher who was not physically harmed by Charlie.
- He has shown no sign of violence for the past nine years.
- He has been certified as clinically SANE.
- His art has occupied him for the past fourteen years and is now his life.
- His artwork is unique and is sent to and exhibited over all the corners of the world.
- He has published twelve books.
- He has received numerous prizes for his poetry, including six awards from The Koestler Trust.
There, I met a very poor chap named Kala and his family, his home was nothing more than a bunch of branches.
Whilst it is true to say that there are many homeless people in Kashmir and poverty surrounds one's every view, it’s easy to accept that this is just a way of life for the locals.
I guess because I come from a country where most of us have not encountered starvation and have not been left entirely to our own devices to feed, provide shelter and educate our children, that we perhaps take our own circumstances for granted.
When hope is all one has, when no one cares and no one sees or listens to your cries for help, only the massively incredibly strong get through each day.
Kala had been homeless and had been in search of shelter for his wife who was pregnant and had a 3 year old daughter.
Kala and his family stumbled across my priest friend who gave them a piece of land to build their own home.
In Pakistan, land is the only item of any value that a person may have, and to give a piece of it away for nothing is unheard off. Many people are killed over land disputes because people guard their only possession with their lives.
But the priest and his family are very good people, they reached out and gave a piece of their family heritage and only valid possession for nothing.
Kala built himself a shelter on the land that the priest had given to him. His home was made from sticks and branches. At night snakes would drop through the roof and there was a constant threat from wild animals such as bears.
When I returned to England I quickly became immersed back into busy modern life and all the trimmings that come with it. I soon forgot about my encounter with Kala.
It was not until I was on a visit with Charlie some months later that the thought and emotions I had felt came back to me.
Charlie asked me about my visit to Pakistan Kashmir and I mentioned to him about Kala and the way that he lived.
What happened next will always stick in my mind: Charlie looked down with disappointment, the mood changed from laughing and joking to one off sadness evident on Charlie’s face.
Charlie asked more and more about Kala’s situation and, ironically, Charlie explained to me how Kala must feel, in exactly the same way that Kala told me how he felt.
Charlie was clearly concerned and I said to him "Charlie we can not do anything to change the way Kala lives. There is millions like him"
"Why not?" he replied.
I was dumbfounded and stuck for a valid excuse. "Ifty, I share a lot in common with the poor, the young and the defenceless, because I know what it feels like to have nothing but a thread of hope to get me through each day.
"Go back to Pakistan and do something to help this man. I will help you. You have the power of freedom - don’t be selfish with it."
To this day that thought stays in my mind. I realised that Charlie was right; I realized the power of freedom and that by only thinking of myself was a selfish act.
Within days a letter landed through my letter box from Charlie. It was full of ideas and questions about Kala.
Over the course of the next month Charlie became extremely focused on getting a project off the ground for Kala.
Charlie single handed put in place a fund raising day in aid of Kala so that a house could be built for him.
True to his word Charlie got me all the help I needed and with his friends' support we rallied around the croft street area of Walsall where I lived.
Charlie done all this from behind a brick dungeon. Parents saluted Charlie’s good work. They were thrilled that their children had been encouraged to do something positive with their lives.
But no one could have been more thrilled than Kala and his family. The money was sent to Kala via the priest who ensured the funds made a house for Kala.
It may seem like nothing much to us, but to Kala and his family it was a giant leap of hope for the future.
Through the awareness that came about from Charlie’s sincerity to help the poor, his name has reached many villages in Kashmir.
Can you imagine that we do not fully understand the torture one feels in this situation as Kala, but Charlie instantly recognised Kala’s silent screams?
I could have easily forgotten about Kala and I even thought that it was imposable for me to do anything to help him.
It was Charlie who made me stop and think of what I am saying and the selfish act I was about to commit.
I must admit Charlie made me and all the people young and old, who rallied round that day, feel a sense of accomplishment and self worth.
What is ironic is the fact that this types of compassion that Charlie has had all his life and demonstrated at any given opportunity is rarely mentioned or even known other than by those who personally know Charles Bronson.
More good things:
Charlie helps pay for baby's headstone
ONE of the world’s most dangerous prisoners has donated £100 to help pay for the headstone for a baby girl from Worcester who died at just 10 days old.
Charles Bronson, who is serving a life sentence at HMP Woodhill, in Buckinghamshire, said he feels “privileged” and “humbled” to help Sarah Gaffney and Luke Dayus, whose daughter Pheobe died last August.
Tattooist Mark Williams, of Forever Ink, in Broad Street, Worcester, who is a friend of the couple, has made a series of limited edition sculptures based on Bronson’s famous drawing of his prison cell door.
The sculptures, which cost £95, are in popular demand from Bronson fans with legendary heavyweight boxer Mike Tyson among the recent buyers.
Bronson donates money to charity from the sculpture sales and when he heard about Pheobe’s headstone fund he told Mr Williams to give £100 direct to her parents.
Bronson wrote in his letter: “Yeh, tell that family of the little girl who died – my sincere sorrow. And the ton is my privilege to sort out. I feel very humbled to be able to do it. Your buddy, Chaz.”
Miss Gaffney, of Swaledale Court, Warndon, who has a two-year-old son, Cane, said she was shocked by the gesture.
The 20-year-old added: “He may have done some bad things through his life but this has proven that he still has a heart of gold. People might think he is a nasty person but this shows he still cares. I am still in shock about the whole thing to be honest.”
Mr Dayus, aged 24, said: “I didn’t believe it when Mark first told me. I didn’t think a person like that would think about us. You would think he had enough to worry about.”
Bronson, a former bare knuckle boxer, now aged 57, has been in and out of prison since he was jailed in 1974 for armed robbery.
In 2000, Bronson received a life sentence for a hostage-taking incident.
Miss Gaffney and Mr Dayus began raising funds to pay for Pheobe’s headstone after her grave at Astwood cemetery was vandalised. They are looking to raise £2,500 and are almost halfway towards their target.
10th may 2010:The Star carried a (belated) story about Charlie "attacking" a prison dog. The incident actually happened over a week ago and was a result of Charlie being told that his brother Mark, who was due to visit him the next day, had just been banned for life from visiting or communicating with him. The reason given was that Mark had dared to speak to the press about Charlie. There you go ... you thought we had freedom of speech in this country, didn't you? Well, not when it comes to telling the nation the truth about Charles Bronson and his work for charitable causes.
The article conveniently forgets ... or just didn't know ... that Charlie was dressed in only a pair of gym shorts when they set the alsation on him and that he was bitten before he got the better of the ferocious attack dog. Most of the article is credited to a "source in Woodhill." Now, I'm sorry to anyone out there who believes the vast range of shite that's printed in the tabloid rags, but whenever they mention unnamed "sources" or "insiders" it means that they are invariably making it up.
To any "rational" journos (if there is such an animal) out there: please imagine that you are dressed in a pair of shorts and a police dog is set loose on you. It attacks you. Do you:
a) Stand there and allow it to shred you alive until a kindly warden eventually pulls it off?
b) Allow it to chew your arms/bollocks off while calling for your lawyer and your mummy?
c) Shit yourself while saying a last prayer?
d) Do what you can to beat off the attacking dog?
Remember, it's multiple choice, so you have a one in four chance of getting it right!
(8th May 2010)
“CHARLES BRONSON: THE MOST VIOLENT/DANGEROUS PRISONER IN ENGLAND!”
That’s what you will always see in any piece of reportage about Charlie Bronson. Have a scan through the news cuttings on this site. Have a look at the recent ones featuring his art work and his charitable donations. The label is always there. It’s an old label but it helps sell newspapers, so they keep it alive and helps to perpetuate the myth in the eyes of the public.
The great British public read that line; they read that he has spent 35 years in prison; they read that 31 of those years have been spent in solitary … and they think. They think: What sort of a monster must he be? They equate him with Charles Manson (someone that many people confuse him with), Ian Huntley, Myra Hindley, the real live Hannibal, Robert Maudsley who ate another prisoner's brains. REAL MONSTERS!
To demonstrate ordinary peoples' attitudes to these sort of prisoners I can tell you that I was recently inundated with mail from far and wide when another prisoner recently slashed Ian Huntley’s neck. Overwhelmingly, the flavour was “He should have cut deeper” “He should have done the job properly!” “Why did they save Huntley’s life?”
The truth is that Charles Bronson has never killed anyone. He has never harmed a single hair on the head of a child or a woman. His list of crimes on the outside of prison is an extremely short one and in not one of those cases was anyone harmed in any way. In the original case of armed robbery that he was jailed for in 1974 his gun wasn't even loaded. He has hurt other prisoners in the past though. Mainly paedophiles, women killers and rapists. The sort of prisoners that ordinary law-abiding men and women say “I’d like to spend five minutes in a sound proof room with!”
Up until 22nd April 2009 Charlie was relatively happy in the segregation unit at HMP Wakefield. Well, as happy as you can be in solitary confinement. He got along with the screws, he was treated well and wasn't interfered with, mail passed freely back and forth, he could make a few phone calls a week (he used to phone me for up to 35 minutes), he created his art and sent it out to all his friends. PO's I spoke with there had a respect for him and he respected them. There had not been a violent incident for years.
Then he was suddenly moved to HMP Long Latin for no apparent reason.
But there was a reason: the prison service were not at all happy with the release of the film Bronson. They were not happy that he made fools of them by smuggling a tape out that was played at the premier. They were not at all happy with the way the film portrayed their treatment of Charlie; treatment that anyone who has spent significant time at Her Majesty’s pleasure will tell you is common. There are decent prison officers and there are bullies. Bullies who delight in having captive victims who have no way of escaping their malicious fists, boots and sticks.
If you are at all dubious about my assertion here then please read "The Loose Screw" by Jim Dawkins.
It was time to punish Charlie. To show him who is the boss and make him pay for the publicity he received as a result of the success of the film … and to pay for the adverse, albeit truthful, way they were portrayed.
If you've read the book "Bronson" or any of the other auto-biographies/biographies, you'll know how many times and how frequently Charlie used to be moved between prisons. It's called "ghosting" and they often do it to punish or destabilise and upset an inmate.
Charlie had his art equipment taken away from him in Long Lartin - a deliberate move designed to upset him, as his art and his fitness regime are the only things he has to do to while away the 23 hours he spends alone every day of every month of every year. He also appears to have been put on short rations, as he lost two and a half stone in weight while there. He officially complained about this. He was being given a cold cheese roll for his evening meal and that had to last him until breakfast time the next morning. Do you know what their cheeky answer was? “To help you out Charlie we’ll give you TWO cheese rolls for your evening meal!”
After having no trouble at all for a number of years suddenly he had two confrontations with the Mufti Squad ... confrontations that Charlie always comes out of with multiple injuries. He was pissing blood while there.
Then another move in November 2009 to HMP Woodhill. This looked at first like a good move for him. The governor announced that he was to be allowed open visits for the first time in many, many years. But then the games started. They banned him from sending his art out to people. Anyone who knows him knows that his art has become incredibly important to him. It’s the only way he can really express himself and it gives him tremendous satisfaction. Sales of his art have been a way of raising money for charity for many years.
He is in the segregation wing with five other prisoners. Those other five are allowed to associate with one another, but Charlie is kept locked up.
For the past few months they have been playing havoc with his post. It has been taking up to six weeks for his letters to reach the world outside the prison and similar amounts of time for letters to reach him. They have also been stopping letters reaching him and stopping many of his letters coming out. I have had so many emails from his friends asking why he had stopped writing to them.
For those of you in that position I need to explain something: if they stop your letter reaching Charlie then they give him a form saying that the letter was stopped and the letter is placed into his property box. They will not inform you that they have prevented Charlie from reading your letter. They can also stop the letter that Charlie writes to you telling you that he didn't receive yours. With me so far? I'm afraid you may never know that your communication with Charlie was interrupted by the prison and simply assume that Charlie just stopped writing to you. Potentially Charlie just lost a friend or a supporter!
It is a well documented fact that communication with family, friends and loved ones is good for prisoners. Numerous independent studies have proved that it significantly reduces the chance of re-offending after release. Studies have also shown that prisoners isolated from such communication are far more likely to re-offend. Prison authorities are very well aware of these facts, so why would they go to so much trouble to disrupt Charlie's mail? I think by now you may be starting to understand why.
He has now been placed in a cell with no window and only a mould covered mattress to sleep on. When his cell door is opened he is greeted by twelve officers in riot gear because they know that their treatment of him will cause his to kick off soon.
Then, last Friday, the day before he was due to visit his brother Charlie, Mark Peterson received a phone call from the prison telling him that the visit had been cancelled and he was banned for life from visiting or communicating with his brother. The reason given was that he had spoken to the media about Charlie! Within a day I, along with some dozen other high profile supporters, had received the same message.
“Why are they doing this?” you ask. “Why would they want to upset Charlie?”
Well, the answer is quite simple. Charlie has been good for too long for their liking. There is a chance that he could be allowed to go free at one of his parole hearings. But the prison authorities know how Charlie reacts when they press his buttons. They know that if they goad him enough he will give the only reaction left open to him. His fuse will eventually shorten and he will act violently. All his peaceful work of the past few years will be undone at a stroke. In that way they can clearly demonstrate that he is still a danger and justify keeping him in solitary confinement in prison as a Cat 'A' prisoner for the foreseeable future. That is vindictive to say the least.
It had been a long time since such an incident, as Charlie has been working towards losing his Cat 'A' status and being released, so it has taken a lot of "poking with a stick" to get him to react. But last Friday he finally reacted after being told about his brother’s ban and smashed some stuff ... but he did not harm or threaten to harm any people. The prison's response seems to have been totally illegal. I am told that they set an attack dog on him when he was wearing nothing but a pair of shorts. I understand that Charlie was bitten by the dog before it eventually ran away from him.
Ideally, I believe, the prison would like to push Charlie into taking another hostage (it's been over ten years since the last one) or a roof top protest. That would get him into the national newspapers for all the wrong reasons ... but then that appears to be what sells newspapers and that would inform the public that they are fully justified in keeping him locked up.
And Finally a word from Charlie
AN IMPORTANT STATEMENT FROM CHARLIE
So, what’s this protest outside Wakefield Prison all about?
28th September 2010
Look at what they done to me last year. They moved me away for the purpose to fail. Abused me. Starved me. Even set a dog on me. All to drive me mad so as to feed the media with “Bronson the Beast.”
I had done nothing to deserve such treatment. For years I have been behaving myself. Then – out of the blue – I was moved to a Seg block and lost all my privileges. All because a film’s been made about me.
Then they stop my visitors ever seeing me again. Good friends like Alan Rayment, Danny Hansford, Mal Vango, Tom Hardy, Leighton and Lindsey Frayne .. the list goes on. I can’t even see my God-daughter’s mother, Zahrah Iftkhar. Good people are refused in to prison to see me: Mark and Sandra Sharman, Matt Legg, Ian Frost, Gary White. Like I say: I can go on and on ... the list is endless, but none are told why they can’t see me.
Then they stop my art leaving the prison. Then they stop my letters. Then they stop my own brother from seeing me. Then letters go missing. Then all my approved phone numbers are mysteriously taken off. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. If you add it all up it’s only by a miracle that they haven’t driven me mad!
How would anyone feel being cut off and abused like that?
I am living in a concrete coffin, isolated year after year after year. I have no hope of ever being freed. I have even lost my dreams of walking free.
The system is just out to make an example out of me. They want me to die in a hole.
But the shame of it is: WHY?
What have I done to die in prison? Why am I even serving a life sentence? When the judge gave me life he recommended that I serve only THREE YEARS. I kept my nose clean, caused no trouble to anyone but I am now eight years over his tariff! The system is actually holding me unlawfully! From my perspective I am now in prison illegally. My sentence expired eight years ago and I should have been set free.
The entire system is a complete farce. They are letting out rapists and dangerous paedophiles every day. Look how they let the Syrian, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, out on compassionate grounds!
He killed 270 innocent people on a plane in the Lockerbie Bombing but he served just eight years!
Look at how they let out all the IRA terrorists!
Come on. Wake up Britain! You’re all being mugged off BIG TIME! Prison is supposed to lock up dangerous men, not let them out.
Every body who knows me knows that I’m anti-crime. I have moved on from my criminal past. I’m now an artist, a poet, an author and a singer. I can make a good honest living outside … so why can’t I be freed?
Tag me; Parole me; even put me on a house curfew.
How am I dangerous to the public? I’ve never killed or raped and never hurt a child or a woman. So why am I portrayed as a danger to the public? My danger was only ever inside, fighting this evil and corrupt system. The system that created me but doesn’t now know what to do with me … and that is the TRUTH!
Now they’re exposed they don’t like it. Well, they had better get used to it, ‘cos Bronson is about to become their worse nightmare. There will be a protest every TWO MONTHS outside whatever prison I’m being held in at the time until I am finally given a fare chance!
- I demand to be taken out of solitary confinement so I can mix with other inmates.
- I demand to be decatogorised from A to B.
- I demand open visits.
- I demand the same Human Rights as the likes of Huntley and Brady get.
Here are some facts that people need to know:
- I have been in prison since 1974 … all but three months of freedom.
- Out of 36 years I have spent 32 years in solitary.
- I am held in a caged cell with double locked doors.
- My visits are in a little cell and visitors see me through bars like a caged animal at the zoo.
- I am forever kept isolated from other inmates.
There is no justification for this treatment.
I am now 58 years old and my life is being sucked away for no other reason than vindictiveness. They can no longer justify such harsh treatment … but it will continue until it is exposed.
The sad fact is that my mother is now old and I will obviously lose her soon … and they will even stop me from going to her funeral like they did with my Dad and other family members I’ve lost. One word they will use to stop me: “Dangerous.”
Well, I’m not dangerous to the public. I never have been and I never wish to be. I have also not been dangerous to the system for many years. Proof? No hostages in over ten years and no roof-top protests in fifteen years. I’m anti-drugs, anti-crime and anti-violence. I don’t drink. It has become a complete joke and the British tax payer is paying £200,000 a year to keep me locked up when outside there are psychos, paedos and lunatics paroled every day and let out of prison on tags.
Human Rights lawyers are now fighting to get The Yorkshire Ripper free! Well, what about Charlie Bronson’s Human Rights? Don’t I have any rights? Am I now dehumanised?
My respect to all the good solid supporters. You are Family. Without you guys I would be long dead. I would have had a "mystery" prison death … put nothing past this evil system.
Stay Strong … we can win by exposing THE TRUTH.
In July 2010 the Chief Inspector of Probation, Andrew Bridges, said that many prisoners should be released early to cut costs. He suggested that murders and other serious crimes committed by prisoners released early from jail may have to be “accepted” by the public as part of attempts to keep down the cost of the criminal justice system.
Now, Charlie has made the point that it costs £200k a year to keep him locked up in solitary. This is a lot more than the £80k that it costs for the average prisoner. Charlie is perceived as more of a danger to prison staff and other inmates than he is to ordinary members of the public, so they keep him in solitary, segregated from other inmates. In today's terms it has cost us over £6.7m to keep Charlie incarcerated for the past 36 years! I make that around 280 years of an average UK citizen's earnings! What a waste!
Why not release him and save themselves the £200k a year given what Andrew Bridges says? If you look at the fifth point above you'll see the numbers of early-release serious re-offenders and their serious crimes. Well, virtually ALL Charlie's crimes of hostage takings and roof top destruction have been attempts to highlight his situation and I'd stake my life on the fact that he would lead a peaceful existence on the outside if the Prison Service bothered to make an attempt to treat him like a human being.
The sport of Bear Baiting was outlawed in 1835!
