Charles Bronson (prisoner)

Charles Arthur Salvador (born Michael Gordon Peterson; 6 December 1952; formerly known as Charles Ali Ahmed), better known by his professional name of Charles Bronson, is an English criminal notorious for his violent life both between and during multiple prison sentences. He has spent periods detained in the Rampton, Broadmoor, and Ashworth high-security psychiatric hospitals.

First arrested as a petty criminal, he was convicted and sentenced in 1974 to seven years' imprisonment for armed robbery. Further sentences were imposed because of attacks on prisoners and prison officers. Upon his release in 1987, he began a bare-knuckle boxing career in the East End of London. His promoter thought he needed a more suitable name and suggested he change it to Charles Bronson, after the American actor. He was returned to prison in 1988 on conviction concerning another robbery. He was a violent prisoner, and had taken numerous hostages in the course of confrontations with prison officers, resulting in sentences of life imprisonment. He has been held at times in each of England's three special psychiatric hospitals.

Bronson has been featured in books, interviews, and studies of prison reform and treatment. He has said: "I'm a nice guy, but sometimes I lose all my senses and become nasty. That doesn't make me evil, just confused." He was the subject of the 2008 film Bronson, a biopic based loosely on his life, starring Tom Hardy as Bronson, with Kairon Scott Busuttil and William Darke playing him as a child.