Charles Bronson (prisoner)

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This page concerns the criminal Charles Bronson also known as Michael Peterson.
For other uses, see Charles Bronson the actor or Michael Peterson.

Charles Bronson (born 1955) is the adopted name, of Michael Peterson, a Luton-born English criminal. Bronson states on his website that contrary to reports frequently made in the press, his name was changed by his fight promoter in 1987 and was not a choice he made in relation to the actor, Charles Bronson.^[1] Bronson has been in prison since the age of nineteen, for various offences.

Initially jailed in 1974 for robbery, his sentence has been repeatedly extended and he has spent only three months out of custody. He has served 28 years of his time in prison in solitary confinement due to repeated attacks on prison staff and inmates, including a number of hostage situations and rooftop protests. His dangerous behaviour has meant that he has spent time in over 120 different prisons. In 2000 he received a discretionary life sentence (with a three year tariff) for a hostage-taking incident. His appeal against this sentence was denied in 2004.^[2]

In 1999 a special prison unit was set up for Bronson and two other violent prisoners from Woodhill (HM Prison), to reduce the risk they posed to staff and other prisoners.^[3]

In 2001 Bronson married Saira Rehman, who had seen his picture in a newspaper and begun writing to him. Rehman had visited Bronson just three times prior to their wedding.^[4] Bronson converted to Islam (Rehman is a Muslim) and was also known as Charles Ali Ahmed. However he and Rehman have since divorced and Bronson has reportedly renounced Islam and the Ali Ahmed name.

While in prison he has developed an extreme fitness regimen and regularly performs 2,500 press-ups a day. In 2002 he published a book Solitary Fitness (ISBN 1-902578-12-0), detailing an individual training process with minimal resources and space.

For the past ten years Bronson has occupied himself by writing poetry, producing pieces of art and has published ten books.