Tag: Milton Keynes

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.’

The teenager’s remains were found last week, more than three years after she went missing on her way to work at a finance company in Milton Keynes.

The family of Leah Croucher have said their “faint glimmer of hope” of her being alive has been “brutally extinguished” after the teenager’s remains were found in the loft of a house.

In a tribute to their “bright, funny young” daughter, the 19-year-old’s family said they knew the “heartbreaking news” of her death would “come one day” but they are “devastated” to have been proven right

“The deepest, darkest grief that we, Leah’s family and friends are experiencing over the past weeks shows us that glimmer was actually, foolishly, a shining beacon of hope, which has now been brutally extinguished in the cruellest and harshest of ways,” they said.

“It has been a long way to fall back to reality.”

Leah’s remains were found last week, more than three years after she went missing on her way to work at a finance company in Milton Keynes.

Items belonging to the teenager, who was a European Taekwondo champion, were also found in the same property in Loxbeare Drive, Furzton, a few minutes from her home.

Her family described feeling a “pain almost too big to bear” following her disappearance, but added: “There is little that compares to the deep chasm Leah’s death has brought to us”.

“Leah was a bright, funny young woman who was a kind, loyal, helpful, and caring soul,” their statement continued.

“Her smile lit up the room, and her laugh cheered all who heard it. Leah had a wonderful sense of humour, and found joy in everything she did.”

‘We will soon be able to lay Leah to rest’

They added that while their “lives are darker”, they have taken “solace” in believing Leah “will only finally die when the last of us who remember her die”.

“We will soon be able to lay Leah to rest, as she deserves, and say our final goodbyes, be able to grieve at Leah’s graveside and lay flowers for her,” her family added.

“We have missed Leah for so long already, and now have the rest of our lives to mourn her, as well as the memories we will never be able to make.

Writing to Leah directly, the family said: “We hope soon that we will be able to look at pictures of you again, but they are too painful to even think about at the moment.”

“Give Haydon a big kiss and a big hug from us baby, we miss and love you both so much, but hope that you are together now, looking out for each other as always.

The tribute was referring to Haydon Croucher, Leah’s brother, who died on 24 November 2019, nine months after she went missing.

Who is the prime suspect?

The prime suspect in Leah’s murder investigation has been named by police as convicted sex offender Neil Maxwell, who was found dead on 20 April 2019 after he took his own life.

Police started searching the property on 10 October this year after receiving a tip-off from a member of the public.

Officers had visited the house on two earlier occasions but insisted this was the first time Leah’s disappearance was linked to the address – despite conducting about 4,000 house-to-house calls.

It has since emerged Maxwell was the only person with keys to the house, which was unoccupied when police were conducting their inquiries.

He was wanted in connection with a sexual assault and used false names and changed his mobile phone and vehicles to avoid police.

Source: Skynews.com