Charles Arthur Salvador (born Michael Gordon Peterson; 6 December 1952; formerly known as Charles Ali Ahmed), better known by his professional name of Charles Bronson, is an English criminal notorious for his violent life both between and during multiple prison sentences. He has spent periods detained in the Rampton, Broadmoor, and Ashworth high-security psychiatric hospitals.
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 prison officers. 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 was a violent prisoner, and had taken numerous hostages in the course of confrontations with prison officers, resulting in sentences of life imprisonment. He has been held at times in each of England's three special psychiatric hospitals.
Bronson has been featured in books, interviews, and studies of prison reform and treatment. He has said: "I'm a nice guy, but sometimes I lose all my senses and become nasty. That doesn't make me evil, just confused." He was the subject of the 2008 film Bronson, a biopic based loosely on his life, starring Tom Hardy as Bronson, with Kairon Scott Busuttil and William Darke playing him as a child.
Bronson has written many books about his experiences and the famous prisoners he has met throughout his incarceration. Spending many years in segregation from other prisoners, Bronson became both a fitness fanatic and an artist, writing a book about exercising in confined spaces, and having his paintings and illustrations of prison and psychiatric hospital life exhibited, winning awards.
In 2014, he changed his name again, this time to Charles Salvador, in a mark of respect to Salvador Dalí, one of his favourite artists. The Charles Salvador Art Foundation was founded to promote his artwork and "help those in positions even less fortunate than his own" to participate in art. In 2023, his application for parole was rejected.
Life
Early life
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.
His aunt, Eileen Parry, is quoted as saying: "As a boy, he was a lovely lad. He was obviously bright and always good with children. He was gentle and mild-mannered, never a bully; he would defend the weak".
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, 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.
He met Irene Kelsey in 1971, who described him as "so different from any other boys I knew. He always wore tailored suits, had perfectly-groomed sideburns and a Cockney accent." Eight months later in 1972, when Kelsey was four months pregnant, the couple married at Chester Register Office. Their son is Michael Jonathan Peterson. Five years later they divorced, and Kelsey later remarried.
1974–1987
Bronson was convicted of armed robbery in 1974, aged twenty two, and sentenced to seven years imprisonment. He was sent to Walton Gaol, and soon ended up in the punishment block after attacking two prisoners without being provoked. He was transferred to Hull in 1975. After refusing prison work, he smashed up a workshop after an altercation with a prison officer, and was sent to the punishment block. He was injected with the sedative chlorpromazine, which made him violently ill, and six months were added to his sentence.
After recovering, he continued to prove a highly challenging inmate, and was repeatedly placed in solitary confinement for several months. He attacked fellow prisoner John Henry Gallagher with a glass jug, and was charged with grievous bodily harm. The charges were later dropped to unlawful wounding, and he was convicted. Nine months were added to his sentence. He was transferred to Armley Gaol.
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.
At Wandsworth, he attempted to poison the prisoner in the cell next to him. He was moved to Parkhurst Prison in 1976, where he befriended the Kray twins, whom he described as "the best two guys I've ever met". He was moved back to Wandsworth after threatening to kill a prison officer. He spent four months in isolation after he was caught trying to dig his way out of his cell. After being returned to the prison's general population, he caught up with the prisoner who had informed on his escape plan, and attacked him, scarring him for life.
The governor at Wandsworth wanted to transfer Bronson out of his facility, and only the C Unit Psychiatric Wing at Parkhurst was willing to accept him. Bronson was returned to the Isle of Wight. There he attacked a prisoner with a jam jar, and was again charged with grievous bodily harm. He attempted suicide and attacked another prison officer, and was made subject to a transfer direction order under the Mental Health Act.
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.
At Broadmoor, Bronson attempted to strangle Gordon Robinson to death, but was prevented from doing so by the tearing of the silk tie he was using. Following this failure, Bronson became depressed, but found his spirits lifted when Ronnie Kray arranged a visit from boxer Terry Downes. In 1982, he performed his first rooftop protest after escaping to the top of Broadmoor, tearing off roof tiles. Not long after the first incident, he again reached the roof of Broadmoor. He caused £250,000 worth of damage in a three-day protest, before he was talked down by his family.
Following further treatment, he took up art. Eventually, he received more prison awards than any other inmate for his poems, prose, and cartoons. He made a third rooftop protest, this time demanding a prison transfer, and was again talked down. He began an 18-day-long hunger strike, and was eventually granted a transfer to Ashworth Hospital, then known as Park Lane Hospital, in June 1984.
Though Bronson was more settled in the more modern facilities and regime at Ashworth, he soon returned to his previous behaviour. He used a sauce bottle to stab Mervin Horley, a patient who made sexual advances towards him. He was returned to the general prison population at Risley Remand Centre in 1985, and was placed in isolation after punching a fellow inmate. In May 1985, Bronson pleaded guilty to grievous bodily harm for the attack on Horley, and three years were added to his sentence. Later in the year, he was returned to Walton, where he made another three-day rooftop protest, causing £100,000 worth of damage. Authorities added another year to his sentence. He was moved to Albany, where he punched another convict on his first day in general prison population. He was quickly moved to Wormwood Scrubs. Two weeks later he was returned to Wandsworth.
In 1986, Bronson was transferred eight times, the only new location being Winchester. He strangled the governor of Wormwood Scrubs during one particularly violent episode. On 3 January 1987, he was transferred to Gartree, where he served the rest of his sentence in isolation, other than ten days spent in nearby Leicester Prison.
1987–1999 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.
His defence had looked strong, as eyewitnesses refused to testify due to fear of reprisals. Alison retracted her initial testimony and became the prosecution's main witness. This removed Bronson's alibi, and gave the prosecution all the evidence needed to win the case. Bronson made a failed bid to reach the prison's roof, and was transferred to Brixton. At Brixton, Bronson was placed in a top-secure unit of 16 prisoners. In June 1988, he pleaded guilty to armed robbery and was sentenced to seven years.