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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Sarah Arnold

Charles Bronson furious 'evil toerag' Colin Pitchfork is free as his parole bid delayed

Britain's most notorious prisoner Charles Bronson is ­furious his parole bid is delayed while murdering rapists like Colin Pitchfork are freed.

In a phone call from jail, he asked: “Would the public rather me living next door to them or Pitchfork?

“What is starting to chew me up and make me feel bitter, they won’t give me my freedom but they bend over backwards and free these evil toerags.”

Bronson has been told a public parole hearing will take place next year. It is believed to have been delayed by Covid and legal snags.

He said: “I’m a bit disappointed. It’s another birthday and Christmas behind bars, but I’m optimistic about my parole hearing next year.

“If I lose again, believe me, the British public will be on my side.

Bronson still trains hard (Daily Mirror)

“I am still a ‘category A’ man, still labelled a danger to the public. Well, the truth is, I’m not.

“My crimes do not justify letting me rot in jail. I am now a 69-year-old man, being denied any justice.”

He is angry that evil Pitchfork, 61, was released on parole this month after serving 33 years for murdering and ­raping two 15-year-old girls in Leicestershire in the 1980s.

Bronson, who now calls himself Charlie Salvador, has spent over 40 years inside since first being jailed for armed robbery when he was 22 in 1974.

Police photo of Colin Pitchfork in 1980s (PA)
Pitchfork goes for a stroll after his jail release (News Group Newspapers Ltd)

He became notorious as Britain’s most violent inmate but says he is a changed man and has written a poetry book called Words Inside And Out.

Now in HMP Woodhill near Milton Keynes, Bucks, he said: “I’ve learned to empty myself and express myself with poetry. I’m anti violence, anti crime, I’m anti drugs.

“I could almost grow f***ing wings on my back. I’m an artist, I’m a poet.”

Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe (REX/Shutterstock)
Soham killer Ian Huntley (PA Archive/PA Images)

Some of Bronson’s ­poems, such as one called Up On A Roof, are autobiographical.

He said: “I have been on nine prison roofs and my hat trick was in Broadmoor; 81, 83 and 84.

“I smashed that place to f***ing pieces. At one point I was labelled the most expensive lunatic in Britain. The money I cost them on tiles was ­unbelievable.

“In fact, I’ve done more roofs than f***ing Santa.”

Brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray (Corbis via Getty Images)

Bronson has also written about being caged with some of Britain’s most ­notorious killers and gangsters. In a poem entitled Nonces, he says Yorkshire ripper Peter Sutcliffe and Soham killer Ian Huntley should have been hanged.

It says: “They are just a waste of space. They are a disgrace to the human race.”

Bronson has also revealed his friendships with gangsters like the Kray brothers Charlie, Ronnie and Reggie, “Mad” Frankie Fraser, Great Train Robber Charlie Wilson, Brinks-Mat robber Micky McAvoy, and playboy crook Valerio Viccei, who was jailed for the £62million Knightsbridge safe deposit robbery in 1987.

He says: “I first met Charlie [Kray] at Parkhurst when he came to visit the twins when he got out with his mum. He’d always come to my fights, he’d tell me Ron and Reg just put a monkey on you to win.”

Of Frankie Fraser he said: “There was no one more violent than Frankie. Loved him. I met him in 1975 in the segregation block at Wandsworth.”

And of McAvoy, jailed for the 1983 £26million Brink’s-Mat heist he added: “I was in Full Sutton with Micky. He gave me a pair of boxing gloves. He was a smashing geezer. I wish him luck. Done his bird like a proper geezer.”

He also recalled playing chess in Brixton prison with Viccei and ­drinking tea with Charlie Wilson.

Valerio Viccei was jailed for the £62million Knightsbridge safe deposit robbery in 1987 (Collect)

He said one of the most dangerous cons he met was the Teacup Poisoner serial killer Graham Young.

He added: “He came to Parkhurst. He was putting things up the tap. He was trying to poison the cons.”

Bronson has fought for the right to have his parole hearing in public – an historic first. He said: “I used to be a horrible b*****d with no compassion. As I’ve aged, I’ve come to the decision you are only here once, enjoy it.

“I’m training in my yard every day, barring Sundays, I’ve got a beautiful DAB radio, I’ve got a telly, I’ve got my books. I’m eating well, sleeping well, feel good. I’ve got a lot of hope in my life. I’ve still got my health, strength.”

And he warned young criminals that jail was too high a price to pay.

He added: “Believe me, one day in prison is one day too long.”

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