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Notorious prisoner Bronson to be allowed visit from actor
Notorious prisoner Charles Bronson is to be allowed a visit from the actor set to play him in a film after prison officials initially blocked the meeting.
The lifer is due to meet Black Hawk Down and Band of Brothers actor Tom Hardy, 30, who is about to start shooting a production based on his life.
Mr Hardy had repeatedly been refused access to Bronson, 55, who is serving life for taking teacher Phil Danielson hostage at Hull prison in 1999.
But prison officials relented after a formal complaint was lodged saying his rights had been infringed.
He had threatened legal action in a letter to the governor of the maximum security prison in Wakefield.
The letter read: "Tom Hardy is a proposed visitor who has been vetted by police and passed. But he has been stopped by the governor here for no other reason than a 'power decision'.
"Give him a pass or let's take it to court and let a judge decide who would be right or wrong. This is persecution because you do not want me to have visits."
In February 1999, Bronson burst into a classroom at Hull Prison where Mr Danielson, then 37, had been teaching.
The convict tied a skipping rope around his neck and held him at knifepoint, holding him hostage for 44 hours and leaving the teacher in fear of his life.
Bronson, who is in solitary confinement in high security Wakefield jail, has staged nine roof-top protests and taken a total of 11 hostages during his years in prison. He has spent 28 of his 33 years behind bars in isolation and is due to have a parole hearing next year.
Filming for Bronson: My Story starts next month. London-born actor Mr Hardy has had a number of acclaimed stage and screen appearances including Layer Cake, as Bill Sykes in the recent TV series Oliver Twist and Hollywood movie Star Trek: Nemesis.
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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