The former wife of Britain’s most notorious prisoner has been barred from visiting him after prison officials said she poses a risk to security and safety.
Irene Dunroe, 73, who stands 4ft 11in tall, has been told she can no longer visit her ex-husband Charles Bronson because she has been deemed a security threat.
Bronson, also 73, is being held at HMP Wakefield, the high-security jail often referred to as ‘Monster Mansion’.
Dunroe and Bronson married as teenagers in 1971. He was first jailed for armed robbery in 1974 and the couple divorced the following year, though they have remained close ever since.
Over his decades in custody, Irene has regularly travelled to prison to see her former husband.
Bronson has spent 52 years in prison on consecutive sentences for offences including violence, grievous bodily harm, hostage-taking and false imprisonment. Around 37 of those years have been spent in solitary confinement.
Irene Dunroe, 73, pictured in 2018, has been banned from visiting her ex-husband Charles Bronson in prison
Bronson is Britain’s most notorious prisoner and has served a total of 52 years behind bars for crimes including GBH, hostage-taking, and false imprisonment
Dunroe, who works at an Ann Summers shop, said she received a letter from HMP Wakefield telling her that she would no longer be allowed to visit Bronson.
She told the Sun: ‘What threat could I pose? That I’m going to batter them with a sex toy from work? It’s completely stupid. I am a pensioner who goes to visit him using my bus pass.’
She added: ‘I am part of his support network, which he really needs right now as he’s going for parole.
‘He is hopeful of getting it. He’s old now. He just wants a bit of peace.’
Irene said she would continue writing to him despite being taken off his visitor and call list, although she feared the letters would go missing.
She also noted that his behaviour had changed since moving to HMP Wakefield, saying that he usually sang to her Frank Sinatra songs and ballads like When Will I See You Again, but he had become quieter.
Irene added that she plans to challenge the ban.
Bronson, who is legally known as Charles Salvador, was first jailed in 1974 at the age of 22 for armed robbery and wounding and has spent most of his life inside for a string of attacks on warders and prisoners across a number of British jails.
MORE STORY: Why Stamford Bridge, Not Hastings, Was 1066’s Greatest Battle
Dunroe said her ex-husband ‘just wants a bit of peace’ and needs a support network ahead of his upcoming parole hearings
His latest prison debacle in July came after he was enraged by being served his favourite apple crumble – ‘without custard’.
Britain’s most notorious prisoner staged a sit-down protest in an exercise yard at maximum-security HMP Wakefield, having defied repeated orders to leave.
Prison officers wearing riot gear were eventually called in and forced Bronson back into his cell in the jail’s segregation unit, the Daily Mail understands.
The extraordinary impasse was said to have been triggered by events at dinner when Bronson was handed his favourite dessert – apple crumble, but without custard.
The missing accompaniment was said to have ‘infuriated’ the veteran inmate – who has spent more than half a century behind bars – prompting him to stage his protest the following day.
A source at the Category A prison – nicknamed Monster Mansion because of the calibre of criminals it holds – told the Daily Mail: ‘He was told more than once that exercise time was over and that he needed to come back inside, but he simply dug his heels in.
‘With Bronson, even something as small as a pudding can become a major security headache because officers cannot afford to assume he is bluffing.
‘The whole thing started because he got apple crumble without custard the night before.
‘He loves his food and saw it as another example of the prison not giving him what he believes he is entitled to, so he decided to make his point in the yard.
‘Once it became clear he was not moving, specially equipped officers had to be brought in to bring the incident to an end.’
It is understood that internal prison staff dealt with the incident, which happened in a yard linked to the Close Supervision Centre – a unit where Wakefield’s most violent and disruptive prisoners are held. The stand-off did not last long.
The source added: ‘Three teams comprised of three guards surrounded him. Bronson ran at the shield, looked to the sky and shouted, “This is for Reggie Kray”.’
Bronson, who was moved from HMP Long Lartin after attacking a prisoner, is effectively held in solitary confinement for 23 hours a day.
He is not permitted to associate with other prisoners, and must use the gym and shower facilities alone.
The Daily Mail contacted the Ministry of Justice for comment.