November the 3rd, saw a 'Charlie Bronson Awareness Night' held at the infamous East End boozer, the Blind Beggar housed in Whitechapel. This was the setting for the killing of George Cornell by Ronnie Kray back in March of '66. It brought nostalgia to the notoriety of Charlie's plight, a celebrated establishment in the history of British gangland for the UK's most dangerous prisoner (allegedly) to be acknowledged by everyday people of the general public. Why does Charlie need to be acknowledged by the general public? Because the next 12 months is going to see an influx of court appeals and challenges for Mr. Bronson (real name Michael Peterson) who is fighting for his right to be released from prison, for despite how he is portrayed by the media, Charlie is a mellowed man whose artwork is becoming celebrated by art critics and Royals alike and this is the person that the general public need to know.

Charlie was jailed for armed robbery in 1969; he has had 69 days of freedom in 33 years. At 55, Bronson, prison no BT1314, has spent 29 of those 33 years in solitary confinement. Locked away for 23 hours-a-day in a 24 ft by 10 ft "cell within a cell", the view from his window is a brick wall, his daily hour-long "exercise" of 2,500 press ups (he does 94 in 30 seconds) is spent alone, his only daily human contact is with the prison officers pushing food through a grate in a giant, steel double door. His life behind bars has cost more than a million pounds, seen him take a string of hostages in 10 jail sieges, attack at least 20 officers and cause a further £500,000 of damage in rooftop protests.  If fact prison made him more of a menace than the outside world ever could and judging by the way he has had to live the last 3 decades, who can really blame him for wanting to fight the system by any means necessary?

In his own words, Charlie states:

"I have never been a danger to the public. I have taken hostages, not proud of it, but that was in prison, and I was fighting the system. I have learned that you cannot beat the system. I was a nasty bastard, no ifs or buts about it. But that is behind me now."

Charlie eagerly awaits a legal ruling on November 20, which could give "lifers" like him - prisoners given a life sentence, but who have served the recommended tariff - legal grounds to be released. Failing that, Bronson is appealing to the Criminal Case Review Commission against his conviction for kidnapping prison teacher Phil Danielson inside Hull Prison in 1999, and has a Parole Board due for early next year. Although the Prison Service is adamant Bronson remains a danger to the public.

"I'm not and never been a psychopath, never enjoyed violence, never got a kick out of it. I have been with some of the most violent, evil people you could ever wish to meet, but I have never been in that category. They say I am a high risk to society, but I say 'prove it'. My crimes outside were not that dangerous, my violence started in prison, when I was put in belts and straight jackets. I believe I should have been punished. I have been punished. Now it is time to go home, I have done my bird."

Whilst in a darkened cell known as "The Cage", Charlie sings the Frank Sinatra classic "My Way".  His version of My Way is set to be released as a single to fund an appeal against the kidnap conviction for which he was given a life sentence, his new book, 'Loonyology', is released next year, alongside a film, "Bronson", based on his life. There are T-shirts, mugs, beer glasses and stickers - two thousand supporters have now joined the Free Charlie Bronson campaign.  And the man constantly dubbed Britain's most violent prisoner says he will be freed for one simple reason. He just isn't violent any more.

"I have not been violent for eight years. When they call me Britain's most violent man, every time I see it in the paper, I feel like I am reading about someone else. It can't be justified and it is time people woke up to that."
 
He is confident that his day will come, the years of waiting will finally be over and he'll be once again a free man, only this time he'll not be the same person he was when he went in but the free spirit who expresses his feelings, emotions and nature in his art, poems and most importantly, his immense charity work to raise money for a number of worthy causes.

Charlie's art work demonstrates his visual imagination and that same expression is given to his thoughts on his first day of release.

"Walking at night time under the stars, sitting on a park bench eating fish and chips, in a pub with me mates having a pint of Guinness, taking me mum for a meal, walking out of a door with no one there, simple beautiful things...Nine times out of ten, people walk out all bitter and twisted," he said. I'm going out there with the biggest smile you have ever seen, I am going to sing "It's a Wonderful Life", and my mates are going to tape it, we will release that. When people see me, they will say 'he has been locked away more than 30 years and he comes out singing, he is no nasty, evil man'. I have no need to commit crime any more, absolutely no need at all. I not crying about it, and I am not ashamed of what I have done. But it is time to go free."

This is the man that the public should be embracing and not the monster that has been flaunted in the media for the last 30 years and that was the reasoning behind one of Charlie's biggest supporters and official art dealer, Mark Emmins, who hosted that night.

Mark and Charlie have become close friends over the last 10 months and Mark is the welcomed breath of fresh air that Charlie needed to breathe. There is no denying the long list of criminal associates the Charlie has kept in touch with, his bestselling books can confirm who he knows and how he feels about them but with bad people comes bad press and if these guys were truly his friends and not media hungry parasites hoping to cash in off of his name and struggles then they would know that Charlie has to move away from the association and be painted with the same brush as those who are now supporting his cause, raising the awareness and helping him change the public perception created by those that would rather see him incarcerated till his final days. However, this realisation from his old associates seems slow to sink in, one in particular, who showed up on the night in question and turned the Charlie Bronson Awareness Night into the Villain Appreciation Night is living proof of that. Cheekily it was stated that this media hungry, South London criminal figure would show up at the opening of a packet of pork scratching if it meant that there might be an opportunity of getting his photo taken. I, for one, can understand the desire to stand by a friend in need and do what I can to help but even I'm smart enough to know that sometimes the best way to help is not to help at all. The possible press attention that was planned for that night had to go out of the window otherwise the headlines would have worked against Charlie instead of for him… luckily Mark was on hand to diffuse the situation and reschedule the interview session that will now be printed in the Daily Mirror, on Monday the 19th of November.

Please show your support for a man that deserves to been seen in a different light by visiting his official website: http://www.freebronson.co.uk