• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Charles Bronson Becomes First Prisoner To Ask For Public Parole Hearing

Home> News

Updated 20:01 21 Jul 2022 GMT+1Published 17:11 21 Jul 2022 GMT+1

Charles Bronson Becomes First Prisoner To Ask For Public Parole Hearing

Bronson's request comes after spending nearly 50 years in jail

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

Charles Bronson has become the first prisoner to ask for a public parole hearing after rules were changed in a bid to remove the secrecy behind the process.

Bronson, who is now 70 years old, asked for the public hearing amid a new parole application after spending nearly 50 years in prison.

He has claimed to have made significant progress since first being imprisoned in 1974 with a seven year-sentence, which kept getting extended as he attacked prison staff.

Bronson was first jailed in 1974.
Alamy

Advert

Bronson is able to request a public hearing after the government changed the law on 30 June, making it so that victims, members of the public and the media could request hearings to be heard in public in a bid to boost transparency in cases and increase public confidence.

The change in law, which came into effect today (21 July), also means the deputy prime minister will get extra powers to challenge Parole Board decisions.

The Parole Board will have the final decision on whether Bronson's hearing will be public, with their decision taking into consideration the welfare and interest of victims and the ‘interests of justice’.

Discussing the changes in June, Dominic Raab MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice, said: "This is the first step in our reforms to the parole process.

"We are making proceedings more transparent, so victims and the public can see justice being done. I am also making sure there is one, crystal clear, recommendation from the Justice Secretary when it comes to the risk of release of the most serious offenders. We are overhauling the system, to make sure public protection is the overriding the priority."

Advert

Dominic Raab made the rule changes to parole hearings.
Alamy

News of Bronson's request comes after he begged the justice secretary for a pardon, arguing that for the last five years he has not added to the series of attacks that kept him in prison for so long.

In an audio message to Sky News, the prisoner said: "I bet you can't believe I'm still in, can you?

"It's an absolute liberty. I'm 70 years old now, 70 years old. I've never murdered anyone; I've never raped anyone. What am I in jail for? People don't believe it. They think I'm a serial killer."

In a letter written to Raab, Bronson's solicitor, Dean Kingham, wrote: "The evidence in excess of the last five years is clear that his risk of violence has significantly reduced."

Advert

Kingham went on to argue that while Bronson may pose some risk to the public, 'The Parole Board regularly releases people that have been convicted of murder'.

Bronson was initially jailed for armed robbery.

Featured Image Credit: George Bamby/Alamy

Topics: UK News, Crime

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is the Community Desk Lead at LADbible Group. Emily first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route. She went on to graduate with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University before contributing to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems. She joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features, and now works as Community Desk Lead to commission and write human interest stories from across the globe.

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Major decision made over UK's most infamous prisoner Charles Bronson as he makes bid for freedom
  • Influencer's heartbreaking legal statement made public for first time after death of 3-year-old son
  • Mum-of-five becomes first Brit to die after 'liquid BBL' procedure as two people arrested
  • Charles Bronson can 'taste freedom' ahead of public parole meeting

Choose your content:

5 mins ago
an hour ago
12 hours ago
  • YouTube/ Dmitry SinitsynYouTube/ Dmitry Sinitsyn
    5 mins ago

    Climber stuck 24,000ft up mountain ‘presumed dead’ after ‘no signs of life’ found

    Russian climber Natalia Nagovitsyna is suspected to have died after she broke her leg and became stuck 23,000 feet up Victory Peak

    News
  • Facebook/Amie UptonFacebook/Amie Upton
    an hour ago

    Funeral director who kept body of baby 'watching cartoons' in living room says she did nothing wrong

    She's stood by her actions after facing huge backlash

    News
  • XX
    an hour ago

    Suspected Minneapolis school shooter posted haunting video laughing and showing off guns before allegedly killing two students

    The shooter opened fire through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis on Wednesday

    News
  • ProfessionalStudioImages/GettyProfessionalStudioImages/Getty
    12 hours ago

    Expert debunks common myth around protein consumption when exercising

    Alan Aragon set the record straight about how and when you should get your protein in

    News