Bronson was imprisoned for seven years in 1974, aged twenty-two, for an armed robbery at a Post Office in Little Sutton, a suburb of Ellesmere Port, during which he stole £26.18. His sentence was repeatedly extended for crimes committed within prison, which include wounding with intent, wounding, criminal damage, grievous bodily harm, false imprisonment, blackmail and threatening to kill. Bronson has served all but four of his years in prison in solitary confinement due to a number of hostage situations, rooftop protests, and repeated attacks on prison staff and on other inmates. His dangerous behaviour has meant that he has spent time in over 120 different prisons, including all three maximum security hospitals: Broadmoor Hospital, Rampton Secure Hospital, and Ashworth Hospital.[8]
Bronson has spent a total of just four months and nine days out of custody since 1974. He was released on 30 October 1988 and spent sixty-nine days as a free man before being arrested for robbery, and then released again on 9 November 1992, spending fifty-three days as a free man before being arrested again, this time for conspiracy to rob. In 1999 a special prison unit was set up for Bronson and two other violent prisoners from Woodhill, to reduce the risk they posed to staff and other prisoners. In 2000, Bronson received a discretionary life sentence with a three year tariff for a hostage-taking incident. Bronson remained a Category A prisoner when he was moved to Wakefield High-Security Prison. He was due for a parole hearing in September 2008, but this was postponed when his lawyer objected to a one-hour parole interview, requesting a full day to deal with Bronson's case. The parole hearing took place on 11 March 2009 and parole was refused shortly afterwards. The Parole Board said that Mr Bronson had not proved he was a reformed character. On 12 November 2010, Bronson was involved in another incident in Wakefield prison’s F Wing, when he stripped naked, covered himself in butter and attacked six guards. Covering himself with butter apparently made him harder to control. Another six warders were brought in and finally restrained him. Bronson claimed in an interview that this incident never occurred. The incident followed another attack on warders the previous week during which he injured four attempting to take him back to solitary confinement. Prison sources said the attack was Bronson's “protest over an appeal rejection” and fears that he may now spend the rest of his life in prison.
