Notorious prisoner sent his drawings to dying woman

A huge collection of previously unseen artwork by an inmate said to be Britain’s most-violent prisoner is among a Balderton man’s prized-possessions.

The sketches by Charles Bronson often depict madness and insanity.

The Balderton man, who does not want to be identified, is a friend of Bronson and said he would never part with the sketches.

Bronson, 61, who has spent 40 years in jail, started drawing while in prison.

He was sending a picture or a letter every week to the Balderton man, who said he particularly valued the drawings done for his late wife when she was battling cancer.

Bronson has been banned from sending artwork to friends after one piece was sold for charity.

The Balderton man, who has known Bronson for many years and visited him in prison, said: “I’m disappointed I won’t be getting any for a while.

“I have had hundreds of pictures over the years. He sends them whenever he can. They’re weird and wonderful.

“I’d never sell anything he gave me. People have and it upsets him.

“I told him I wanted to sell a piece for charity so he did me one especially for that.”

The friend said he didn’t see an issue in making money for charity through Bronson’s notoriety.

“Does it matter where charity money comes from?” he said.

“There are ways and means for him to make money but on this occasion he wanted to do something in memory of my wife.”

The man, who was a restaurant owner in Spain, got to know Bronson through the criminal’s family and Great Train Robber Ronnie Biggs, whose funeral he attended.

He said: “The art started when Bronson first went inside.

“A prison officer gave him some materials and told him to do something productive. Now he is winning awards.”

Bronson’s artwork, much of which depicts life in his cell, has won 11 awards from the Koestler Trust, a prison arts charity.

One painting has been displayed in a London tube station and others exhibited in galleries.

Bronson was jailed for armed robbery in 1974 and 1988, and for intent to rob in 1993.

He was sentenced to life after taking an educational worker hostage in prison in 1999.

He has spent 36 of the past 40 years in solitary confinement and is eligible for parole next year.

The friend said he hoped Bronson would be released. He said Bronson wanted to trade on his notoriety and open a chain of restaurants named after prisons, with diners eating in cells.