Charles Bronson, the most violent inmate in Britain, to marry ex-Emmerdale actress
BRITAIN’S most violent prisoner went down on one knee to propose to his actress girlfriend when she visited him in jail.
Charles Bronson, 64, who has spent 41 years behind bars, popped the question in person after originally planning to have a ring delivered to Paula Williamson’s home.
The inmate, who has convictions for armed robbery, wounding and grievous bodily harm, has attacked fellow prisoners and taken jail staff hostage.
But a softer side of Bronson was on display when Miss Williamson, a former Coronation Street and Emmerdale actress, visited him at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire earlier this week.
The 35-year- old travelled from her home in Stoke- on-Trent to see Bronson, instead of him ‘serenading’ her and proposing to her by phone as he had planned. Describing their unusual bond, she said: ‘ We are so in love. i’ve had relationships with both men and women in the past but none of them come close to my love for Charlie. he’s so eccentric, but so am i. it’s a perfect match.’
Bronson, who was born Michael Peterson but took the name of the late movie star, has spent 37 years of his sentence in solitary confinement.
in recent years he has taken up art and poetry, changing his name to Charles Salvador in homage to his favourite artist, Salvador Dali.
Miss Williamson is understood to have been in a relationship with the prisoner for five months. She arrived at the jail for his proposal wearing a revealing red dress and sporting a necklace bearing the name Salvador.
‘i know he has a public image of being a violent prisoner, but in reality he is so different,’ she told The Sun.
‘he can never change the things he has done in the past, but he is working so hard to put that behind him.’
Miss Williamson lives in a £ 125,000 three- bedroom home in the Sneyd green area of Stoke-on-Trent.
She trained at the Manchester Metropolitan university School of Theatre, and in 2011 appeared in the iTV mini- series Appropriate Adult about killers Fred and Rose West. She played a nurse in several episodes of Coronation Street and a stripper in Emmerdale.
her acting CV also includes an advert for Aldi, as well as work for Tesco, Morrisons, Vodafone, Northern Rail and Yorkshire Water. her Twitter page describes her as an ‘actor and girlfriend of Charlie Salvador (Bronson)’.
‘He’s eccentric but so am I’
Bronson was first jailed for seven years in 1974 for his part in an armed robbery which netted him just £26.
Two years later, while serving part of the sentence in hMP Parkhurst on the isle of Wight, he befriended the Kray twins.
Further portions of his sentence were served in secure hospitals including Broadmoor in Berkshire, and he was finally released in 1987. But he then robbed a jewellery shop to steal a ring for his then-girlfriend, and was free for only 69 days.
The career criminal has been married twice before.
he wed irene Kelsey in 1972 but they divorced five years later. his was married to second wife Saira Rehman – a divorcee who wrote to him in prison – from 2001 to 2005.
in 1999, Bronson received a discretionary life term after taking a prison art teacher hostage for 44 hours at hMP hull when they criticised his work. in 2008 his violent life story was made into a film, called Bronson, in which he was played by Tom hardy.