The Most Violent Prisoner in Britain
Meet Charles Arthur Salvador, born Michael Gordon Peterson, most famously known as Charles Bronson. He was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, England on December 6th, 1952. His first trip to the slammer was in 1974 for armed robbery. He was locked up for 7 years, until he was released and went on to earn a living through underground bare-knuckle boxing in London.
Action Bronson didn’t name himself after Charles Bronson, but they both named themselves after the American actor Charles Bronson. Here’s some tunes for while you’re reading.
Life as Michael Peterson
He got caught planning another robbery and was sent back to jail, where he began to earn his reputation. He did this by instigating countless fights, holding hostages, and staging one-man protests and hunger strikes. Here’s what he looks like:
Peterson is an interesting man. By all accounts, he can be quite fun to be around a lot of the time. He himself describes his temper best.
I’m a nice guy, but sometimes I lose all my senses and become nasty. That doesn’t make me evil, just confused.
Now, there are a lot of people that are violent before and after being put in prison. The difference is that Peterson needed no provocation. Sometimes, he would simply walk up to someone and land a heavy right hook for no reason. He attacked people with anything he could get his hands on, even glass jugs. He was constantly being moved to different prisons after violent acts, such as trying to poison the man in the cell next to him just because.
All of this landed him in a secure mental hospital, but the problem is that Peterson was such an odd case. He was studied by many psychiatrists, but they could not agree on what mental illness he had, if any. He seemed to be stable other than his temper, and being in the hospital made him uncomfortable.
I witnessed them running into walls, using their heads as rams. I’ve seen them fall unconscious doing this. They stabbed themselves with pens, needles, scissors. One even blinded himself in one eye and another tore out his own testicle. There was one just kept trying to eat himself, biting his arms, legs and feet.
He could not relate to anyone around him, and it was not safe to keep him there.
I’d been certified mad because of my violence. I was still violent — and they were now certifying me sane. Where’s the sanity in that? Isn’t the system just as crazy?
Somehow, for some reason, he was released from jail in 1987. He got back into bare-knuckle boxing and changed his name to Charles Bronson (after a famous American actor at the time) per the recommendation of his fight promoter.
Life as Charles Bronson
About two months into freedom, he decided we wanted a nice gift for his girlfriend. Bronson robbed a jewelry store to get her something nice, and also stole a bunch of jewelry to sell. He was arrested soon after, but no one would testify against him. They were too scared of what he would do to them (he left the man that spoiled one of his prison escape attempts scarred for life). He may have gotten off, except that the woman he stole the jewelry for testified against him (U wot m8). In 1988, he plead guilty and was prison bound again for another 7 years. Once back home in prison, he was back to his usual self. Assaulting guards, pouring water on prison officials, starting riots, making pets out of the prison rats, you know… the usual.
As a reward for his good behavior, he was released 3 years early in 1992. He planned another robbery, and got arrested again just 53 days out of jail. He wiggled out of these charges so he could plan another robbery and get caught less than 3 weeks later. While awaiting trial, he kidnapped a librarian. The ransom he demanded was an inflatable doll, a cup of tea, and a helicopter. Thinking on his toes, the hostage cut the cheese. Bronson was displeased with this and released him. He was then caught and sentenced to 8 years.
In Britain, they call prison wardens “governors.” He kidnapped one deputy governor, poured water on a different governor, and assaulted another.
His father died in 1994, and this really got to Bronson. He was especially irritable and dangerous during this time, constantly taking hostages and assaulting inmates, guards, and anyone else he could get his hands on.
The following excerpt of his Wikipedia page describes his mental state:
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 he then took two 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’. He demanded a plane to take him to Libya, two Uzi sub-machine guns, 5,000 rounds of ammunition, and an axe. He released Greasley, but began chanting “I want ice cream”. He felt guilty after hitting one of the hostages with a metal tray and therefore insisted the same hostage hit him over the head four times so as to call it ‘quits’.
Solitary confinement was also getting to him:
My eyes are bad due to the years of unnatural light I have had. My vision is terrible; I have to wear shaded glasses even to read. Years of solitary have left me unable to face the light for more than a few minutes. It gives me terrible headaches if I do … Years of loneliness in small cells have left me paranoid about people invading my space. I now can’t stand people getting too close, crowding me. I hate people breathing on me and I hate smelly bodies coming near me. Mouths to me are simply for eating — never for kissing … A man needs a routine to cope with such an extreme situation. For me it is my push-ups and sit-ups. I also pace the room and count each step. Some I know lie down on their beds for three hours on their left side, three hours on their right, and three on their back
There is a fairly happy end to this story. Although Bronson has (finally) been sentenced to life in prison, he has found a new coping mechanism: art.
He has written 11 books, including Solitary Fitness, a fitness regimen for when you have limited space and equipment. By all accounts, he is a very fit man.
I’m the king of the press-ups and the sit-ups. I’ve already said I once did 25 press-ups with two men on my back, and I’ve squatted with three men on my shoulders! I’ve been making prison fitness records for as long as I can remember. Show me another man — a man half my age — who can pick up a full-size snooker table. I can. Show me another guy who can rip out 1,727 press-ups in an hour. I can … I once went eight years without using weights, then I went into a gym and bench pressed 300lb ten times. I’m 5ft 11in, I weigh 220lb and I feel as strong as did when I was 21 … There’s something deep inside me that pushes me on. I’m a solitary fitness survivor.
He also writes poetry and produces award-winning art that he often auctions off for causes like children’s cerebral palsy.
In August 2014, he made one final name change. He now goes by Charles Salvador, an homage to his favorite artist Salvador Dali. He claims to have given up violence, saying that Charles Bronson is dead and he has a new philosophy.
It’s non-violent all the way. It’s a peaceful journey from here on… Coz my heart is at peace and my mind is set on art.
That being said, you have to give him a little leeway. He attacked a prison governor just under a year ago because he thought that the guard was withholding mail from his mother.
Below, I show some of his artwork, the only known video of him fighting, and a trailer of the movie “Bronson” in which Tom Hardy portrays him.
