Charles Bronson, a notorious prisoner, has claimed that he can “smell and taste” freedom ahead of a public parole hearing the following month.
On March 6 and March 8, the Parole Board will determine whether to keep one of the UK’s longest-serving prisoners behind bars.
One of Britain’s most violent offenders, Bronson has spent the majority of the last 50 years behind bars, frequently spending time in solitary confinement or specialized units. In 2014, he changed his last name to Salvador in honor of the surrealist artist Salvador Dali.
He may still be detained at Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire’s HMP Woodhill, a maximum-security facility.
Bronson features in a new two-part documentary from Channel 4 ahead of his ‘jam roll’ hearing.
In part one of Bronson: Fit to be free?, which aired on Monday night, he can be seen video calling his son George Bamby from his maximum security cell.
READ MORE: Charles Bronson says he’ll ‘make history’ with first ever public parole hearing
On the prospect of his parole review, Bronson tells his son that he is not the same man he was when he first entered prison.
‘I’ve got a horrible, nasty, vicious, violent past (but) I’ve never killed anyone, I’ve never harmed a woman, never harmed a child,’ he said.
‘I’m focused, I’m settled, I can actually smell and taste freedom like I’ve never, ever done in (my) life. I’m now anti-crime, anti-violent.
‘What the f**k am I still in prison for?’
Bronson previously said he was first sent to jail in 1968 and has held 11 hostages in nine different sieges – with victims including governors, doctors, staff and, on one occasion, his own solicitor.
He was sentenced in 2000 to a discretionary life term with a minimum of four years for taking a prison teacher at HMP Hull hostage for 44 hours.
Since then the Parole Board has repeatedly refused to direct his release.
READ MORE: Notorious prisoner Charles Bronson says ‘this is my time now’ as he eyes freedom
Bronson continued: ‘The system have labelled me for so many years untameable, untreatable, unpredictable, dangerous, blah, blah, blah. I’ve had every label you can think of.
‘But at the end of the day what people don’t realise, since George, my son, has come into my life, I’ve changed and… George has got me the best legal team in the world… I’m coming home, I’m definitely coming home.
‘Cards on the table, do I sound like Britain’s most dangerous man? Come on. I’m 68-years-old and all I wanna do is get out there and enjoy my f**king life, what’s left of it.’
Along with his son, Bronson credits art for helping him find his ‘true self’ while in prison.
‘My art now is my life,’ he said.
‘When I create a piece of art, I create a piece of myself. I’m more proud of my art than I am anything and what I’ve basically done.
‘I’ve swapped (my) sawn-off shotgun for a sawn-off paintbrush. And it’s lovely, it’s beautiful.
‘When I sit there and do a piece of art, it feels like I’m part of the human race, I feel lovely and happy.
‘It gets rid of all my frustrations and my tension and my madness. I’m an artist and people have got to start believing it and seeing it.’