'Devastated' Charles Bronson's heartbreaking phone call telling mum he's not being released from prison

Charles Bronson had to make an extremely difficult phone call from prison to his mother after getting denied his parole, his ex-wife has said.

Bronson – one of the UK’s longest serving prisoners – was yesterday told that his parole application had been unsuccessful, and he’s not been deemed eligible for release or even for a move to an open prison.

However, there is hope for him in the future as he is currently on a sentencing plan that will see him moved to another facility and integrated further into the population within a closed prison environment.

That’s got to be better than the constant supervision and high-security conditions that he’s living under now, and will offer him the opportunity to further show that his rehabilitation is something that is here to stay.

Still, it must have been a massive disappointment to him yesterday, given how confident he apparently was of getting out.

His ex-wife, Irene Dunroe – who still maintains a good relationship with Bronson, who she calls by his birth name Mick – explained that the first phone call he made was to his mother, Eira.

Robin Bell/Shutterstock

She said: “Mick called me and he's absolutely devastated.

“He was disappointed. He said he had to make the hardest phone call he has ever had to make to his mum saying: 'I'm not coming out mum.'

“He said it's the hardest thing he's ever had to do.

“He didn't want to speak to me at first as he knew I would be upset and I started getting upset on the call.

“He's so disappointed. He thought he was the nearest he's ever been to freedom.

“He kept saying, 'It's only two or three years, I can do that, I've already done nearly 50, so I can do another two and a half.'

“He was telling me: 'You don't need to cry about it. Don't cry. Don't get upset. It is what it is. It just has to happen.'

“He was courageous. He told me, 'Please don't get upset. Please don't cry.'"

Ultimately, after careful consideration, the Parole Board panel found that Bronson doesn’t yet have the ‘skills to manage his risk of future violence’.

In announcing their findings they added: "The panel accepted that Mr Salvador genuinely wants to progress and that he is motivated to work towards his release.

"It thought that there was evidence of improved self-control and better emotional management."

Nick Razzell/Shutterstock

They continued: "However, the panel was mindful of his history of persistent rule breaking and that Mr Salvador sees little wrong with this.

"He lives his life rigidly by his own rules and code of conduct and is quick to judge others by his own standards.

"His positive progress has to be assessed in the context of him being held in a highly restrictive environment.

"In the panel's view, it is unknown exactly what is containing Mr Salvador's risk.

"It is unclear whether the strong external controls of custody are mainly responsible or whether his attitudes have genuinely changed."

He’ll be eligible for another parole application ‘in due course’.