Bronson 3

by Charles Bronson

  The other three prisoners are all serving life sentences but even they are frightened of Bronson. It is fair to say that I am and have been aware of his potential for being dangerous since he came to Hull.

  Part of my duties, as stated previously, involve the regular visits to both staff and prisoners on this block. During the last few weeks I have been aware that Bronson has been more and more agitated as his trial approaches. I have been informed that he had spoken recently about taking a hostage, this information being passed on to me by other prison staff.

  Shortly after 9.00am on Monday, 4 April 1994, I commenced my duties on A Wing. I walked into the block and everything appeared perfectly normal, just like any other Monday morning.

  As I walked into the block I became aware of the prisoners filing out of the kitchen, to my left. I said, ‘Good morning,’ to them. I noticed that Bronson was at the rear of the group but as soon as he saw me he pushed the other prisoners aside and rushed at me. He grabbed me around the neck and pushed me towards the wall. Bronson was behind me with his forearm around my neck, pushing my chin up. He had come at me so quickly that I did not have time to avoid him and similarly the other prison staff did not have time to react.

  Bronson held me tightly around the neck applying pressure to my throat. He shouted at the staff, ‘Don’t come near or I’ll break his neck.’ He then dragged me backwards, walking with his back to the wall, along the corridor and dragged me to the TV room (TV room 2). He threw me down in the TV room and then sat me down, telling me to put my hands behind my neck. Bronson was extremely agitated and was not in any sort of state to be questioned or upset. Bronson then began barricading the door with the tables and chairs in the TV room.

  I remained sat on the chair in the middle of the room. The chair was a tubular metal chair with a thinly padded vinyl seat. Initially, I was sat facing the door of the TV room and I recall Bronson speaking through the windows with one of the prison officers, Roy Kirk. Bronson was saying that I was a bastard and that nobody liked me. He said to me, ‘If you move, I’ll kill you.’ There is no doubt that I took this threat seriously, bearing in mind the man’s history and mental instability. I was frightened, and was in a situation that was completely out of my control. Bronson was able to do anything to me.

  I was dressed in a blue pin-stripe suit, brown-and-white striped shirt, tie and a pair of black shoes. Bronson was wearing dark tracksuit bottoms and a sleeveless vest and yellow-painted prison boots. He took my tie off and tied my hands together behind my back but not fastened to the chair. Bronson was still very agitated at this time and I realised that my best option was to act quiet.

  Bronson punched me a few times across my right cheek and also to the back of my neck, knocking me to the ground. He dragged me back up by the scruff of the neck and put me back on the chair. Bronson was telling me I was a ‘bag of shit’ and said nobody liked me and that he was going to kill me. He was pacing around the room. He told me that he knew there would be police sharpshooters brought in and that I would be killed as well.

  Bronson rifled my pockets. He took my prison radio from me and asked me how it worked. He put all the items from my pockets on to the table in front of me and then threw the items around the room and on to the floor. He took my prison keys out of my pocket and, as he took my wallet, he ripped my trousers down the right side.

  He picked up my wallet from the table and began throwing the credit cards around the room and started ripping up the notes. He picked up an iron that was in the room and held it close to my face. He said, ‘I’m going to batter you with this, cunt, and stave your head in.’ It is difficult to put into words my thoughts and feelings while this was going on but I honestly felt in fear for my life.

  All this that I have described took place in the first few minutes of the incident. Bronson then turned me around on the chair so that I was facing away from the door. The windows of the room were therefore behind me.

  The room in which I was is about 10ft square. The chair was placed along the wall to the left about 4 or 5ft from the door. Most of the time I was sat facing the sidewall or the back wall. Bronson told me not to speak and kept pacing up and down behind me. He was kicking the furniture around and snorting. Bronson asked me how the prison radio worked and I explained to him.

  About thirty minutes into the incident, Bronson told me to get on the radio. He told me what to say and I passed a message saying that he wanted us both to leave the prison together, that if there were any SAS or Royal Marines in the prison that they had better shoot us both. I told the communications room that Charlie had done jungle warfare and was not ‘fucking’ about. Bronson held the radio while I spoke into it.

  I continued to sit quietly on the chair facing the TV. I was aware that Roy Kirk, the prison officer, was watching through the glass windows. I could not see Bronson but could hear him pacing up and down behind me. He told me to sit still and not to speak. Bronson turned the sound up on the TV. The station was tuned into pop music and when he turned it up it became very noisy.

  Shortly after, Bronson asked for a cup of tea and he asked me if I wanted one. I told him that I did because I didn’t want to upset him any further. He shouted his request to the officers in the corridor and a few minutes later Bronson partly moved the barricade and the cups of tea were pushed through. I told Bronson that I wouldn’t be able to drink my tea with my hands tied and so he undid them. He told me, however, to keep one hand in my pocket, which I did. I expected that later he would re-tie my hands but he never did.

  I had a watch on but was unable to look at it in case Bronson saw me. However, I heard Bronson talking with Roy Kirk about an 11 o’clock deadline and said that he wouldn’t hurt me until that time had elapsed, as he was a man of his word.

  During the incident, although I had full sense of my faculties, I was not in control at any time. Many things went through my mind about the things Bronson could and would do. I recall at one point, which I believe was after the 11 o’clock deadline, that Bronson stood behind me, I could not tell how close he was, but I heard him unzip his trousers. My first thought was that he was going to inflict some form of sexual abuse on me but instead he urinated in a bucket. As soon as he had finished, I thought the bucket would be poured over my head and prepared myself for it, but it never came.

  A few minutes later, Charlie got back on the radio. The radio had been switched on all the time and we could hear the day-to-day running of the prison continuing on it. Charlie called up saying that he wanted the prison closing down and that he didn’t want any further talk over the radio. He made some reference to having some mushrooms stolen last week, but I couldn’t make much sense of that.

  Shortly after that, Charlie told me to get on the radio. He told me to ask for his blow-up doll and that he wanted it dressing up in a black skirt, black tights. I asked the communications officer to acknowledge that my message had been received, which he did. Charlie had told me to do it right and threatened me with violence if I didn’t comply.

  Charlie picked up my prison security keys and asked me about them. He wanted to know which doors they fitted and said that he was going to try them on the doors. By this time, Charlie had calmed down a bit but, because he is so volatile, I thought it best not to try and engage him in any sort of conversation.

  I was aware, however, that the officers outside were trying to negotiate with him and I kept my mind active by running through the procedural matters that the negotiators would be going through in order to resolve and contain the situation. I myself have been in incidents of this type before but obviously the situation is completely different when you are the hostage. I do recall thinking that I shall have the windows in the TV room replaced with glass that can be broken should the need arise. The windows are presently fitted with unbreakable glass.

  A while later, again I cannot say what time, but assume it was about lunchtime, Bronson told me to call up on the radio and ask for two steak and chips, one for himself, one for me. Bronson s
aid he wanted it in five minutes. Again, I passed this message to the communications room.

  I then became aware that Bronson was becoming more and more agitated. He began pacing up and down and seemed to be working himself up. For the first time for quite a while, I became frightened again. Bronson smashed one of the chairs in the room, an armchair, and took the padded seat of the chair, he placed it across my chest, strapping it in place with a sheet which he tied behind my back.

  Bronson had told me that he knew police tactics and knew that they would soon start drilling holes into the walls to listen to him and see what was going on in the room. He told me that he was going to move me. He picked me up again, grabbing me around the neck. He moved the barricade out of the way and opened the door to the room. He walked me out into the corridor, again warning the other prison officers to keep away. Bronson had me tightly around the neck and was stood behind me. I assume he had placed the chair seat on to my chest to act as some form of protection in case someone tried to shoot him.

  Bronson walked me along the corridor and then dragged me into the adjoining TV room only a few yards away from the first room. Again, he barricaded the door to prevent the prison staff getting in, using two chairs and a table; however, the barricade was not as heavy as the first one.

  Again, Bronson sat me down and shouted for another cup of tea, which was brought a few minutes later. I felt I had to drink it just to keep him happy. Once I’d finished it, I said to him, ‘Can I put it down?’ but Bronson snorted back, ‘No, I’m in charge!’

  He started to puff and puff and snort and somebody came to the window and he shouted, ‘Fuck off. I don’t want to talk to you.’ He was becoming more and more excitable and grabbed the radio. He said he was going to come back on the radio in five minutes, that he wanted the communications room to get a tape recorder and record his message that he was going to give. He said he was going to sing a song and said he wanted it playing at his funeral. He said he wanted a copy sending to his solicitor in London.

  I could sense Bronson was building himself up and expected something serious to happen. It crossed my mind that I would be killed. Minutes later, Bronson again spoke on the radio. This time he said that he knew he was going to die today and that he was prepared for it. He said he expected to be shot by a police bullet. He said he was going to sing a song, which he wanted playing at his funeral. Bronson then sang a song called ‘I Believe’, which he sang at the top of his voice.

  This must have lasted for a few minutes and when he finished I thought he was going to hurt me. Bronson then started singing some Christmas carols and hymns; he picked up the TV, smashing it on the floor alongside me.

  He dragged me to my feet again and walked me to the door of the room, pushing aside the barricade. He again began dragging me back along the corridor and it seemed as if he was taking me back to the first TV room we had been in.

  Bronson was again behind me, walking with his back to the wall, feeling his way along as we approached the first TV room (TV 2). He shouted to the prison officers, who were stood only a short distance away, asking them about his steak and chips. One of them shouted that they were unaware that he had asked for any food.

  I realised that once we got back into the first room it would be more secure than the last one, so I was reluctant to go back in it. As Bronson reached out trying to find the door handle, I felt his grip loosen around my neck, ever so slightly. As it did so, I saw my chance and pushed with my foot against the door frame knocking Bronson slightly off balance. I pushed as hard as I could and Bronson fell backwards with myself falling over with him. As we fell, he released his grip on me. We landed and I jumped straight to my feet, kicking Bronson on the body and face a couple of times. Within a second, a number of other prison officers jumped on top of Bronson and one of them took hold of me and led me away. I was taken to the command post in the Governor’s office.

  I was extremely highly charged at this time and was grateful that I had been dragged away because I feel I would have done some harm to Bronson if not moved.

  I went to the Governor’s office and was sat down. Everyone was very nice to me but I felt as if I was being pampered and didn’t want all the hassle. I felt I just wanted to be left alone to try and sort the many different feelings out that were going through my mind. I sat and talked the situation through and slowly started to come down from the incident.

  PHIL DANIELSON

  The prison officer was sat where Tim had been sat, but I was unable to identify the officer because the officer was reading a tabloid newspaper which was covering the officer’s face. I was not happy with this because I felt the officer was ignoring me and not paying any attention to my safety and I felt very vulnerable and that I was being put at risk. I could not see any other officers from the classroom and therefore believed other officers could see me.

  I then heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs which lead up to the 2s [2nd floor level] near to Room 23. Fred Lowe said, ‘That’s only Charlie doing part of his exercises.’

  I looked over my shoulder but didn’t see Charlie. I thought to myself, ‘I don’t like this, I’m off.’

  Still, I could not see any prison officers paying any attention to me. I then thought about getting out and over to the stairs which lead to the exit door on 2s. I turned back to Fred for an instant when suddenly there was crash and the door to the classroom flew open and then I felt an enormous thump to the right side of my upper face. Initially, I didn’t know what had happened because it all happened so quickly.

  I fell to my left side on to the carpeted floor. As I fell, I hit the floor with my chin or lower part of my face causing my lower teeth to become slightly dislodged. I may have lost consciousness for a few seconds as it took me some time to focus and to realise what had happened.

  I was laid on the floor behind my desk at this point completely out of view of the prison officer due to the solid area at the bottom of the wall.

  My glasses had been knocked from my face but I am only slightly short-sighted and once I managed to focus I could see clearly.

  I remained very still on the floor as I realised that I had been hit by Charlie. I saw Charlie stood astride me looking down at me. He was holding a knife in his right hand. I could not see the handle but saw the blade which was about 6–8in long pointing down towards me.

  I then heard Charlie say, ‘Now I’ve got you, take your last breath because this knife is going in you.’

  I remained very still. I was absolutely terrified. I thought Charlie was going to kill me. I didn’t dare move. I tried to appear dazed and knocked out.

  Charlie then went down on one knee level with my waist and jabbed the knife into my ribs. I felt the point through my shirt but I don’t believe it went through.

  Charlie then held the knife at my ribs and said, ‘You are the bastard that slagged my cartoon off.’

  I made no reply to this and remained very still. I knew what Charlie was referring to. Charlie had designed a poster with various cartoons exampling ‘healthy living’. One of the cartoons was titled ‘Safe Sex’. Charlie’s example explained how gay men should use condoms to prevent the spread of diseases.

  When I had seen Charlie’s poster in the education department I commented on the poster to a member of the education staff when Charlie was not present. I had felt that the poster inferred that gay men alone were responsible for spreading sexually transmitted diseases, and I did not feel that this was acceptable on a poster.

  This comment had somehow reached Charlie and he had obviously taken offence at my comment.

  Charlie then got up off the floor and left me but I still remained very still. Charlie then started to knock the computer equipment on to the floor, the keyboard, the terminal and the other equipment with it. Ray and Fred left the classroom very quickly. From the position I was laid in, I could see Charlie throwing the equipment around and yanking cables from the computers. At one point, a printer hit me on my legs but did not cause me any injury
.

  Charlie then came back over to me, stood astride me and then pulled both of my arms behind my back. He then tied my wrists together incredibly tight with the computer cable. This hurt my upper arms as well as my wrist due to the tightness.

  Charlie then moved down my legs and tied my ankles together with another piece of cable. This was also tied very tightly. Charlie moved very quickly and I offered no resistance to him because Charlie was holding the knife in his teeth while tying me up and I still thought he was going to kill me.

  I then saw Charlie look out of the classroom window and then bend down and pick me up. He placed me around his shoulders with my legs on one of his shoulders, my body around the back of his head and my head over his other shoulder. Charlie then carried me out into the middle of the ls.

  I looked around for someone to help but I couldn’t see a single soul …

  … I wasn’t too concerned because I didn’t have cell keys but on the other hand I didn’t know where the other inmates were. This I feel was an indirect threat from Charlie because Fred is well known for being a dangerous inmate.

  Charlie seemed to have calmed down a little by then. He then said to me, ‘Tell you what, if we don’t get what I want, I’m gonna kill you and then I’m going to kill myself, they can carry both of us out in body bags.’

  I had the feeling of absolute terror. I believed Charlie meant what he said. Charlie then said, ‘You wait here.’

  Charlie then left me on my back on the table. Over the next twenty minutes, Charlie proceeded to trash the entire floor of the wing. He systematically went from room to room and smashed and turned everything over. I managed to move my head around so that I could get a good view of him.

  I saw Charlie go into the kitchen, room number 1, and return with a deep freezer over his head. He then chucked it up the staircase which leads to point 29. The freezer landed halfway up the stairs and slid down to the bottom. He did the same with a cooker and other similar items and then did the same on the staircase near to the snooker table which leads to point 24. The noise was incredible.