Charles Bronson not given fair chance, ex-solicitor says

Charles Bronson, who now uses the name Charles Salvador, was first jailed in 1974

A former solicitor who represented Charles Bronson said he did not think the prison system had given him a "fair chance".

Bronson, who is currently at HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes, has been in prison for much of the last 50 years.

A public parole hearing took place earlier this month to decide if the 70-year-old is fit for release.

Martin Oldham, who represented Bronson for four years, said he should be moved out of segregation to be rehabilitated.

He said staff should "put him on a normal wing, in a normal prison block, to see how he gets on with other prisoners".

"He might succeed," he said.

Martin Oldham said he thought moving Bronson to a "normal wing" was "the way forward"

Mr Oldham was Bronson's solicitor between 1998 and 2002. He represented him as he faced charges for taking a group of hijackers hostage who were due to be released from prison, and when he took a prison education officer hostage.

Bronson, from Luton, Bedfordshire, was jailed aged 22 for armed robbery in 1974 and earned a reputation as a violent and dangerous inmate, causing him to spend most of his life behind bars.

• Who is notorious prisoner Charles Bronson?

He became notorious for attacks on prison staff and other inmates, but his violence had subsided in recent years, his latest parole hearing was told.

Bronson has created many artworks while in prison and gifted several to Mr Oldham

Mr Oldham, who is retired, said he found Bronson to be "very entertaining, quite reasonable, but limited in his terms of life experiences".

"Apart from one occasion I never had a cross word with him," he said.

"He certainly never killed anybody.

"I don't think the prison system has given him a fair chance to rehabilitate himself.

"He has to prove he is safe before they can release him. But how can you provide that you're safe to be released if you're in what amounts to a segregation block?"

Bronson has had a film made about him and several books have been published during his time in prison

The parole hearing was told Bronson spent 23 hours a day in his cell with limited contact with other inmates. It heard he would not cope with being released - even highlighting that he had never used a cash machine before.

Bronson told the panel: "Of the 50 years I have been in prison I have probably deserved a good 35 of it.

"Because I have been very naughty. Not naughty-naughty but just naughty.

"Give me a chance, a break, to prove to you people that I am just a normal geezer wanting to get on with his life."

A decision on his parole is due to be released at a later date.

The Ministry of Justice has been contacted for comment.