Charles Bronson has claimed he has “never been a danger to the public” ahead of an expected Parole Board decision on whether to free him on Thursday.
In a voice note sent to Sky News from prison, Bronson claimed that he “hates violence”, has been a “model prisoner” for the last decade and that “I love the world”.
Bronson, one of Britain’s most notorious prisoners, has spent nearly five decades behind bars after first being jailed in 1974 for armed robbery.
However, his sentences have been extended many times due to a series of violent attacks on fellow inmates and prison staff.
The Parole Board can decide whether to release Bronson, move him to an open prison, or order that he must stay behind bars. He is currently at a secure unit at HM Prison Woodhill, Milton Keynes.
Bronson told the broadcaster: “I’m not a f****** filthy terrorist or a rapist, or a murderer, so who am I dangerous to outside?”
He added: “I want to go home, I’m an artist born again. I hate violence, I despise it and that’s all I’ve done for the last ten years, sit in my cell, a model prisoner, polite, respectful but they still won’t let me out.”
His parole hearings were held publicly earlier this month, making him only the second ever UK inmate to have his parole case held openly.
Bronson, who changed his surname to Salvador after the artist Salvador Dalí, told the hearing how he enjoyed a “rumble of my life” fight in prison and won £1,500 last year from betting.
The first witness, his prison offender manager, said he did not believe Bronson had the skills to cope with being released.
The panel heard that he spends 23 hours a day in his cell and only associates with three other inmates who he does not get on with.
When questioned about several incidents behind bars a few years ago and why they happened, Bronson said: “I love a rumble. What man doesn’t?"
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.”
But the 70-year-old claimed he had changed his ways and said he would be able to handle any conflict on a larger wing.
