Charles Bronson

Charles Arthur Salvador (formerly Charles Ali Ahmed; born Michael Gordon Peterson on 6 December 1952), better known as Charles Bronson, is a British criminal, with a violent and notorious life as a prisoner.

He has spent periods detained in the Rampton, Broadmoor, and Ashworth high-security psychiatric hospitals.

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, but when he was a teenager, his family moved to Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, where he started getting into trouble.

By 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 hometown.

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.

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.

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.

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 starring Tom Hardy, a biopic based loosely on his life.

Bronson has written many books about his experiences and the famous prisoners he has met throughout his incarceration.

A fitness fanatic who has spent many years in segregation from other prisoners, Bronson wrote a book about exercising in confined spaces.

He is an artist; paintings and illustrations of prison and psychiatric hospital life have been exhibited and won him 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.

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.