Charles Bronson has made plans to celebrate his freedom from the nick with a big party, among other things.
To be fair, if he is released – and it is a massive ‘if’ – he’ll have a lot of time to catch up on.
Bronson has been in prison for nearly 50 years, serving a discretionary life sentence since 2000 for hostage-taking, as well as previous convictions for armed robbery and all sorts of in-prison issues, many of which were violent.
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Now, he’s awaiting the results of his public parole hearing, which had a day behind closed doors yesterday, to see if he’ll be allowed to breathe the free air once more.
The 70-year-old’s ex-wife Irene Dunroe says that she has been in regular contact with Bronson – who changed his name to Charles Salvador in 2014, but she calls by his birth name, Mike Peterson – and has knowledge of what he’s got planned for his potential release in the near future.
Irene told Mirror Online: “He called after the hearings and he told me he’s very, very positive. Mick desperately wants to get out of prison.
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“He can only ring for 10 minutes and the phone gets cut off.
“He’s told me that his friends are organising freedom parties for him to welcome him back home and he wants me to sit next to him at them.
“Someone is even baking a cake and icing it all specially for him.
“My view very strongly is let him be free.”
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Well, it’ll ultimately be up to the Parole Board to decide whether Bronson gets out to enjoy his party and his cake.
During his hearing, the board has heard from professionals such as a psychologist, as well as those who have worked with Bronson in prison, and the whole thing has been punctuated by some interesting statements and occasional profanity from the man himself.
Irene says that most of that will have been nerves, revealing that Charlie felt embarrassed after accidentally spilling orange juice on himself.
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“He said he felt a bit silly. It was nerves. It’s the first time he’s been in a room with so many people,” she said.
“He told me, ‘I should have stopped swearing. I’m not going to swear so much’.”
It’s true – Bronson has spent much of his recent years in a close supervision prison, with only three other inmates – one of whom he reportedly dislikes – for company, as well as the prison staff.
Irene, who has a son with Bronson, hasn’t ruled out a rekindling of their romance if he does win his freedom.
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She said: “We are just keeping an open mind. We are going to be friends. We have been through a lot.
“He feels so apologetic for what I’ve been through. When someone goes to prison it’s all about the convict, it’s not about the wives and families left behind and how they cope.
“He feels so guilty. We will see each other regularly and we plan to go for meals and days out.
“But as for if I want to get married again? I have no idea. I have no idea what’s going to happen. But we are still very close.”
The decision on Bronson’s future – whether that be release, a move to a more integrated prison, or nothing at all – will be made later this month.
Topics: Charles Bronson, Crime, Weird, UK News
Tom Wood