the notoriously known “britain’s hardest criminal”.

i remember watching a documentary about him (having never heard of him before) a while ago,then recently there was a film about him on film 4.

there’s no denying he was a dangerous man,BUT is he deserving of being in solitary confinement for over 35 years!

there are people (use the term loosely) who have actually murdered/raped and got a very short sentance/released compared to charles bronson.

why has he got this unjust reputation as britain’s most dangerous man?

just wondering on what you think about it?

video is an interview with charles on his view about being moved to a new prison *(does contain strong/offensive language)
[video]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8y4dD103EZI[/video]

IMO, very few people deserve to be locked up in solitary for 35 years.

Bronson needs to be put in a secure Psych facility, has he actually even murdered anyone?

A complex character but ultimately a very dangerous man. Nobody’s all bad but he’s guilty of appalling violence. Not sure he’ll ever be released, even after all this time I’m sure his response to things that don’t go his way iss extreme violence. 🙁

no he hasn’t murdered/raped anyone.this is what i don’t understand.the punishment far outweighs the crime imho.

the fact is he has been violent,no doubt about that at all.but being locked away in a cell for over 35 years is just downright inhumane.

I read a book on him years ago for some reason.
My overriding feeling of him is he is either mentally not quite there or he is just an idiot.

I do not know if recently he has calmed down lately to warrant being let out of solitary, but he just seems to swing from being quite thoughtful and reflective for a short period and then battering seven shades out of someone the next on loop.

I forget what it was he went to jail for originally, I’m sure it was not a long sentence though… but he has to take the blame himself for committing countless more offences while inside jail and hence watching his term grow and grow.

as far as i can tell it was for armed robbery that he originally went to jail for.

cannot disagree about him bringing it on himself with his violent outbursts either.

but

there are plenty of violent people in prison and i’m sure that they haven’t been in isolation for decades,this is what i don’t get?

my defence is falling away isn’t it 😉 there must be a better way of dealing/helping him,than just locking him away in a cell.that’s what i mean.

Still don’t understand why people think it’s perfectly okay to put someone who clearly has mental health issues, in solitary for 35 years….but mention psychosurgery and/or chemical castration and all of a sudden you’re an evil scientist/hannibal lectar.

People like him should be viewed as a medical problem, not a criminal problem.

You confuse the UK legal system with justice.

He’s only a danger to prison wardens, it’s the system that seems to rile him, ordinary Joes need not worry, even if he was on the out side, there are much scarier people wandering about in the wild!

Excellent film.

He’s only a danger to prison wardens,

And other prisoners. And probably the only reason he’s not been a danger to the general public is because he’s mostly been in jail since the 70’s.

Having said that it does appear that he has mental issues so should be in a secure psychiatric facility instead of in solitary in jail.

BTW I’ve seen than Bronson film and thought it was pretty poor.

maybe he has a death wish ?

Prisons are filled with mentally ill people who aren’t going to be rehabilitated without serious assistance (which they don’t get in prison). The Bronson case is just a dramatic example of how many others end up on a smaller scale. I have NFI what the answer is (and three hundred years of penology hasn’t produced much either) but something is deeply wrong.

‘Prison guard in my corner post office, tells me a lot of the guards phone in sick rather than have him on their rounds – so I’m guessing he hasn’t mellowed much with age(61).
(Judge a society by how it treats its criminals/insane)

Having said that it does appear that he has mental issues so should be in a secure psychiatric facility instead of in solitary in jail.

My understanding was that they tried that – he’s spent time in all three of the secure hospitals, but the conclusion is that he’s not mad, but supremely manipulative and understands exactly what he’s doing, just doesn’t like the consequences!

I used to live in Talybont, The Village in which some of his family have or still do reside including his mother,
I can categorically tell I wouldn’t know if I’ve met any of them but chances are I saw them in the shop or the pub and on this basis I can only guess that they are lovely people with a lovely family member in Charles Bronson.

His sentence is harsh and should be let back into society where I’m sure he would lead a normal, stable and non violent life.

😕

I swear to God, the hand wringing that goes on here, he should be released into a room full of those here that ask for such a thing, and they be tasked to care for him. He’s a Poet now and I’m sure he’d hand out Poetic justice as a thank you.

Around 85% of Britains inmates have some sort of mental health problems (according to an HMPS mental health inreach nurse who used to work where I do) & one of the main problems is that your average screw isn’t trained in any kind of mental health knowledge. I come across prisoners every day with severe MH problems (or so I’m led to believe). Some I reckon are genuine, some I’m not so sure about, but I’ve had no training so how am I to know?
I know that Charlie pushed his luck at HMP Durham a few years back, shouting stuff like, ‘I’ll take 10 of you **** out, come & get me’ etc etc (to staff) One officer went in his pad in the close supervision centre & proved otherwise, giving Bronson a good pasting, one on one.
Doesn’t alter the fact that ‘normal’ prisons are no place for people with serious MH issues.

My understanding was that they tried that – he’s spent time in all three of the secure hospitals, but the conclusion is that he’s not mad, but supremely manipulative and understands exactly what he’s doing, just doesn’t like the consequences!

Pretty much my understanding of him too.

Not sure how accurate the film is, but they tried to have him sectioned a long time back, and didn’t he kick off in a big way to prove that he wasn’t mental, and that he should continue to be in a normal prison?

I’d say the word is institutionalised. The punishment may not be befitting of the original crime, but in his time in prison he’s done more than his fair share of things to make sure he stays in there! Seems to me the most important thing to him is being known as the biggest, nastiest, hardest badass around, and if things are starting to look like he’s calmed down a bit or mellowed with age, he takes it as his cue to kick off again! That and in prison he knows he’s getting fed 3 times a day and a roof over his head, in the outside world, who would tolerate him?

Seems to me the most important thing to him is being known as the biggest, nastiest, hardest badass around

& he doesn’t even come close, he’s just possibly, the most publicised.

Unlike Bob here.. (for instance)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Maudsley

The public really do not know the half of it.

Bob sounds a bit unhinged 😯

Bob sounds a bit unhinged

You win the prize for understatment of the year!

I read book years ago. overwhelming feeling was that he is happier inside because he is totally in his own world.
He has no place on the outside. He simply would never fit in. Not sure it’s a case of he being institutionalised to prison, but it’s an environment that is designed for his type.

derekfish – Member
I swear to God, the hand wringing that goes on here, he should be released into a room full of those here that ask for such a thing, and they be tasked to care for him

well said