Age, Biography and Wiki
Charles Bronson, born as Michael Gordon Peterson, is a British artist and criminal. He has spent significant portions of his life in high-security psychiatric hospitals such as Rampton, Broadmoor, and Ashworth due to his violent nature. Bronson's early life was marked by petty crime, leading to his first imprisonment in 1974 for armed robbery. His career in bare-knuckle boxing began after his release in 1987, but he was soon returned to prison for another robbery in 1988.
| Occupation | Autobiographer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 6 December 1952 |
| Age | 72 Years |
| Birth Place | Luton, England |
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Country | England |
Height, Weight & Measurements
There is limited publicly available information regarding Bronson's physical measurements such as height and weight. However, his physical presence is often noted as formidable, reflecting his involvement in boxing and frequent confrontations with guards during his imprisonment.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Bronson has been involved in several personal relationships, including proposing to a woman after stealing a thousand-pound ring. However, she declined his proposal. Details about his current or recent relationships are not widely documented.
Born Michael Gordon Peterson in Luton, Bedfordshire, he was one of three sons of Eira ( Parry) and John G. Peterson. His father later ran the Conservative club in Aberystwyth. His uncle and aunt each served as mayor of Luton in the 1960s and 1970s.
Peterson lived in Luton from the age of four. When he was a teenager, his family moved to Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, where he started getting into trouble. At the age of 13, he was part of a gang of four robbers and was reprimanded in juvenile court after he was caught stealing. He enjoyed fighting from an early age, and was often absent from school. Peterson later returned to Luton, which he refers to as his home town. His first job was at Tesco, which lasted a fortnight before he was dismissed for attacking his manager. He passed through a number of jobs, working as a hod carrier and in a number of factories. He was imprisoned for the first time at Risley, serving time on remand for criminal damage after he smashed some parked cars following an argument with his girlfriend's father. Following his trial, he was fined and given probation.
Peterson worked as a furniture remover, while regularly fighting on his nights out. After being involved in petty crime, he was in serious trouble with the authorities for the first time after crashing a stolen lorry into a car. He was apprehended in his parents' home, 90 mi from the scene of the incident. The driver of the car survived the collision, resulting in Bronson not facing serious penalty, receiving fines and probation. After his trial, he returned to petty crime and menial labour. Aged 19, Bronson was convicted for his part in a smash and grab raid. The judge gave him a suspended sentence.
Peterson found that his reputation as a violent and highly dangerous inmate preceded him. During 1975 to 1977, he was switched between Armley, Wakefield, Parkhurst, and Walton prisons. He was taken from Yorkshire to London chained to the floor of a prison van. Kept in solitary confinement, he began a fitness programme. He continued to attack other convicts and damage prison property. While recovering in solitary from a beating given to him for punching two prison officers, Bronson was handed the divorce papers filed by his wife.
Upon his release from Gartree, Peterson was met by his family and stayed with his parents for a few days in Aberystwyth. He took a train to London, bought a water pistol, modified it, and used it to intimidate a stranger into driving him to Luton. Bronson embarked on a short-lived career in illegal bare-knuckle boxing in the East End of London on the advice of long-time friend Reggie Kray. He changed his name from Michael Peterson to Charles Bronson in 1987 on the advice of his fight promoter, Paul Edmonds, although he had never seen a film starring the American actor Charles Bronson. He offered to fight Lenny McLean, but was refused. He said that he killed a rottweiler with his bare hands in a £10,000 underground fight. Later he said that this was "not something I'm proud of because I love animals."
On New Year's Day 1988, to the surprise of his girlfriend Alison, he robbed a jewellery shop, kept a ring for her, and sold the rest. On 7 January 1988, his 69th day of freedom, he was apprehended and arrested on his morning jog. The arresting officers charged him under his fighting name, Charles Bronson, and he decided at that moment to give up the name Michael Peterson. He was returned to Leicester Prison, as Bedford Prison refused to house him on account of his uncontrollable behaviour during his first term of imprisonment.
Bronson spent 53 days as a free man before being arrested, this time for conspiracy to rob. He was remanded at the newly opened Woodhill Prison. He insisted that his girlfriend Kelly-Anne, her friend Carol, and her lover were lying to the police in order to get him locked away. On 9 February 1993, the charges of robbery were dismissed. He was given a £600 fine for breaking the nose of Kelly-Anne's lover. Sixteen days later, he was arrested for conspiracy to rob and for possession of a sawn-off shotgun. On remand in Woodhill, he took a civilian librarian hostage, and demanded an inflatable doll, a helicopter, and a cup of tea from police negotiators. He released the hostage after being disgusted when the man farted in front of him.
His father died in September 1994, during a period when Bronson was in constant solitary confinement and was moved almost weekly. He attacked the governor at High Down, who had felt safe enough to visit Bronson on his own, telling his prison officers that "he's okay with me". At Lincoln, he was allowed to spend time with children with Down syndrome. He was taken out of solitary and placed back on the prison wings after getting along well with the children. He was returned to isolation after returning from 30-minutes' exercise, 30 minutes late.
In April 1996, he was sent back to Belmarsh after taking a doctor hostage at Birmingham. Five months later, an Iraqi hijacker bumped into him in the canteen and did not apologise. After a long period of brooding, Bronson took two other Iraqi hijackers, along with another inmate named Jason Greasley, hostage in a cell. By his own admission, he was "losing it badly" and ranted about his dead father, saying that any "funny business" would result in him "snapping necks". He sang and laughed and forced the Iraqis to tickle his feet and call him 'General'.
In 2001, Bronson married again, this time in HMP Woodhill to Fatema Saira Rehman, a Bangladeshi-born divorcee. She had seen his picture and an article about him in a newspaper and began writing to him. Rehman had visited Bronson ten times before they married. She had worked at a women's shelter before they met, but lost her job when her employer found out about the relationship.
For a short time, Bronson converted to his wife's faith of Islam, and wished to be known as Charles Ali Ahmed, but did not change his name legally. After four years he and Rehman divorced, and he renounced Islam. During this period, Bronson appealed against his life sentence. Three appeal court judges rejected the application in April 2004. In court, with six prison guards surrounding him, Bronson said his wife and her daughter were helping to rehabilitate him, and references about his character, including reports from psychiatrists, were positive on this occasion.
On 28 February 2014, Bronson violently attacked the prison governor in a television room in HMP Woodhill, over a dispute that his mail was being withheld, including two letters from his mother. The governor had serious bruising. In July 2014, Bronson was sentenced to two years. The prison accepted that his mail may have been unacceptably processed.
In July 2018, it became known that Bronson asked for a divorce, after photo evidence of a young British holiday-goer 'motorboating' on her chest and inviting him and his friends to her apartment, whilst on holiday in Tenerife, was leaked to a newspaper. She claimed he requested his wife to wear a catsuit when she next visited him, a suggestion she rejected. On 29 July 2019, Williamson, aged 38, was found dead at her home in Stoke-on-Trent. Her death was not considered suspicious by the police.
In 2017, Bronson contacted newspaper photographer George Bamby after recognising his name on a Channel 4 documentary. After meeting, Bronson gave Bamby hair samples for DNA testing. Bamby has since produced a certificate claiming that there is a 99.98% chance that he is Bronson's son. In March 2023, however, Bamby later claimed the entire relationship was fabricated in a publicity stunt arranged between the two.
In 2014, The Guardian reported that the sale of several of Bronson's artworks, which were formerly owned by Ronnie Kray, raised several thousand pounds for his mother to have a holiday. It followed her being upset after Bronson's reported attack against 12 prison guards at HMP Woodhill.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Irene Kelsey (m. 1971-1976) Saira Ali Ahmed (m. 2001-2005) Paula Williamson (m. 2017-July 2019) |
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Net Worth and Salary
As a prisoner, Charles Bronson does not have a conventional career that would generate a significant net worth. His income is primarily limited to potential earnings from his art and any book or film rights related to his life story. The 2008 film Bronson may have contributed indirectly to his financial situation, but specific figures are not publicly available.
For the incident, Bronson received a discretionary life sentence to run a minimum of three years. Later in 1999, a special prison unit was set up at Woodhill for Bronson, Robert Maudsley and Reginald Wilson, to reduce the risk they posed to staff and other prisoners. Danielson received £65,000 in compensation from the Home Office in an out-of-court settlement, although the prison service did not admit liability for its negligence in failing to protect a civilian employee.
In 2007, two prison staff members at Full Sutton high security dispersal prison in the East Riding of Yorkshire were involved in a "control and restraint incident", in an attempt to prevent another hostage situation, during which Bronson had his tinted glasses broken. Bronson received £200 compensation for his broken glasses.
Career, Business and Investments
Bronson's career is unconventional, marked by his criminal activities and time in prison. His involvement in bare-knuckle boxing in the late 1980s was a brief foray into a more conventional career. However, his artistic talents have been recognized, and he has produced numerous artworks during his imprisonment. These artistic endeavors have contributed to his small but dedicated following and may generate some income through sales or exhibitions.
First arrested as a petty criminal, he was convicted and sentenced in 1974 to seven years' imprisonment for armed robbery. Further sentences were imposed because of attacks on prisoners and guards. Upon his release in 1987, he began a bare-knuckle boxing career in the East End of London. His promoter thought he needed a more suitable name and suggested he change it to Charles Bronson, after the American actor. He was returned to prison in 1988 on conviction concerning another robbery. He is a violent prisoner, and has taken numerous hostages in the course of confrontations with guards, resulting in sentences of life imprisonment. He has been held at times in each of England's three special psychiatric hospitals.
In December 1978, Bronson arrived at Broadmoor, but was soon transferred to Rampton Secure Hospital. Unable to adapt to forced medication, and in the company of highly disturbed and highly dangerous patients, Bronson attempted to strangle child rapist and murderer John White. He was apprehended just as White was giving out his death rattle. Bronson was returned to Broadmoor, where he reunited with Ronnie Kray.
In 2023, Bronson put his drawings for sale at an exhibition, which he hoped could increase his chance for getting parole by demonstrating that he could have an occupation if released from prison.
Social Network
Bronson does not have a personal social media presence, given his imprisonment and lack of access to digital platforms. However, his story and artwork have been discussed and shared by fans and followers of his life and career.
Education
There is no detailed information available about Charles Bronson's formal education. His early life was marked by criminal activity rather than academic pursuits.
In January 1999, he took Phil Danielson, a civilian education worker, hostage, as he had criticised one of Bronson's drawings. Bronson tore up the prison, throwing refrigeration units and furniture around. He was shocked and knocked unconscious for a few minutes when wrenching a washing machine out of the wall. The siege lasted for 44 hours before he released Danielson. Bronson was transferred to Whitemoor.
