The son of ex-Aberystwyth resident and notorious prisoner Charles Bronson has insisted his father is not violent ahead of a public parole hearing which could see him freed.  

The legendary inmate – famed for his eccentric personality, successful art career and violent hostage takings – is said to have a romantic connection to Aberystwyth, near where his mother and brother live.   

The Parole Board for England and Wales is set to rule whether Charles - who changed his second name to Salvador in honour of his artistic hero, Salvador Dali - will be allowed to walk free.  

A hearing is set to take place today (6 March) and followed by another on Wednesday after which a judge will rule on whether to release him.   

And Salvador is said to be confident he will be freed, after speaking for a new Channel 4 documentary.    

George Bamby, Salvador’s long-lost son who also featured in the documentary, told GB News: “We've had a good relationship for six or seven years and obviously, since I first started visiting them, and finding out he was my father, I've got to know him very well, like as a friend more than anything else.”  

In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, he said: “It's all like a really complicated situation but the thing is Charlie's been in prison for 48 years now.  

“He's never had his voice. I mean, in the past, there's other high-profile prisoners, where the Ministry of Justice have allowed the media to go in and interview these people and speak to them and talk to them about whatever, they've always denied that access to Charlie.  

“So Charlie's never been able to have his word of his say. So, this documentary that I did with Channel Four, I was working on it for over three years and fortunately, I was able to video him.  

“Obviously, I can't video and covertly inside the prison, because it's a minimum two year prison sentence. But when COVID came along, they did a thing called Purple visits.  

“And when you do purple visits, I have my big laptop at home, they feed him in from the prison and we talk and I and Channel Four are filming the whole thing, so it was an opportunity for him to talk.”  

Salvador, aged 70, is one of Britain’s longest serving prisoners and is also the focus of Aberystwyth folklore.    

As legend has it, the first thing he intends to do on his release from prison is run naked down Constitution Hill. He is also said to be planning to move back to the area as soon as he can.    

Asked if he would like to see him released, Mr Bamby said: “When I started seeing Charlie, seven years ago, who was in trouble all the time, he was violent, he wasn't speaking, you know, his mind wasn't right, and all the rest of it  

“And during the course of our relationship, I've tried to educate him and help him and work with him to try and achieve the personality and the beliefs he needs to ultimately get him released.  

“This documentary that we did, we had a lot of negative feedback from that.”  

He added: “He's not a violent person, he is an artist and he's rehabilitated himself.  

“When I go see him at Woodhill [prison], you walk through all the wings and everything. There's music playing, it's like a big, massive disco everywhere.  

“It was talking to one of the prison officers and I said, ‘what's going on, it's like a youth club?’ and they said, ‘oh, we only have two prison officers on every week, if we go in and tell someone that certainly music off, the place will go up so just leave them to it’.”  

Asked why he is in prison if he is not violent, Mr Bamby said: “Well, he's not a violent prisoner. Now, he has been violent in the past. He's been really evil.  

“He's been awful and he's committed some awful crimes, but everybody's got a past.  

“Charlie's gone so long now sort of staying out of trouble and behaving himself and not getting involved in any stupid arguments and stuff and if people fall out with him, he just walks away.”  

 In 1974, he was jailed for seven years and has since spent almost 50 years behind bars – aside from two very brief periods of freedom.   

His infamous fights with and violence towards fellow prisoners and prison staff, along with his headline-grabbing hostage takings, have seen him condemned to successive sentences – and he has been turned down for parole repeatedly.  

Salvador is currently serving a life sentence which was imposed in February 2000 for the offence of false imprisonment.