Post by matt on Feb 6, 2004 10:22:59 GMT -5
Britain's most violent prisoner comes to aid of children's hospice
CHARLES Bronson has created a reputation as one of the most dangerous men in the country.
Bronson (he changed his name to that of his film star hero) uses a website to boast about his violent crimes, which include an unprecedented 50 attacks on prison staff.
Aged 51, he has staged countless rooftop protests, including one at Liverpool's Walton jail in the 1970s. He was jailed for life in 2000 following a siege at Hull Prison, where he took a teacher hostage. His other crimes include armed robbery, possession of a shotgun, assault and threats to kill.
He was jailed in 1974 for robbery and inflicting wounds but his sentence was continuously extended after violence. He is now in a special unit at Wakefield prison.
Few would seriously describe the crude and grotesque images of violence penned by Charles Bronson as art,
yet an exhibition featuring the work of one of the most feared criminals is to be staged to raise money for a children's charity.
Bronson, from Ellesmere Port, is allowing one of his pictures to be raffled off at an exhibition, to raise money for Zoe's Place Hospice, in West Derby, Liverpool.
The prisoner, who changed his name from Michael Peterson to Charles Bronson in honour of his Hollywood hero, has been behind bars for all but three months of his life, since the age of 19.
He has now been in prison for 30 years for a litany of offences including hostage taking and violence.
He spends 23 hours of the day in his cell, painting and listening to his radio.
Some of his artwork can be found on the internet, including self-portraits brandishing a shotgun and strangling a fellow inmate.
Last night, Marie McCourt, of Support Against Murder and Manslaughter, said the exhibition was trading on Bronson's crimes, dismissing him as "a nobody." Mrs McCourt said:
"Speaking for myself, I cannot comment on the decisions of Zoe's Place to take this money, but I think that a lot of our members would find it very offensive that a criminal can benefit from his crime.
"He is not getting paid for it and he may say the money is going to charity. But nobody would be interested in him if it wasn't for his crimes."
The exhibition of Bronson's macabre images will be staged on Valentine's Day at the Lodge Gallery in Victoria Park, Portsmouth, concluding with the raffle to win one of the pictures.
A gallery spokeswoman said: "It is part of our mission statement that we would never turn someone away unless their work, not the artist, is offensive to the public."
But should a children's charity accept money raised through the public's morbid fascination with such disturbing paintings?
Zoe's Place general manager Robert Griffin said last night he saw no problem with accepting money raised through the work, revealing that it was Bronson who had approached them with the offer of help.
He said: "We are taking money from the general public, who want to give it to us. We are not taking any money from a criminal. He approached us and said that he had heard about the work that we have done."
Mike Unger, chief executive of the Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation, last night defended the decision by Zoe's Place.
"I think that most charities would accept the money, as long as what they were doing was not illegal," he said.
"In this case you have to consider that his work could be part of the prisoner's rehabilitation."
I couldn' t decide whether this should be in the 'That's mad that!' section of the site or post it here. Has anyone got any views..............? #nosmileys
