Charles Bronson

Who is Charles Bronson?

Charles Bronson is an English criminal who is often referred to in the British press as the "most violent prisoner in Britain".

Born in Luton, Bedfordshire, he became a petty criminal before being sentenced to seven years imprisonment in 1974. While in prison, he began making a name for himself as a loose cannon, often fighting convicts and prison officers. He also embarked on one-man rooftop protests. Regarded as a "problem prisoner", he was moved 120 times throughout Her Majesty's Prison Service and spent most of that time in solitary confinement. What was originally a seven-year term stretched out to a fourteen-year sentence that resulted in his first wife, Irene, with whom he had a son, leaving him. He was released on 30 October 1988, but spent merely sixty-nine days as a free man before he was arrested again.

Upon his release, he began a bare-knuckle boxing career in the East End of London. His promoter was unhappy with his name and suggested he change it to Charles Bronson. He was returned to prison for planning another robbery and continued to be a difficult inmate, instigating numerous hostage situations. While in jail in 2001, he married his second wife, Fatema Saira Rehman, a Bangladeshi-born divorcée who inspired him to convert to Islam and take the name of Charles Ali Ahmed. This second marriage lasted four years before he divorced Rehman and renounced Islam.