I was best friends with Charles Bronson before turning my life around & he sends me Christmas cards… he should be free

A MAN who was best friends with Charles Bronson said he still gets a Christmas card from the lag – and thinks he should be released.

Stephen Gillen is a reformed career criminal, who now wants to help others avoid falling into a life of crime.

But when he was behind bars he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Bronson – one of the UK’s most notorious criminals.

Gillen has now opened up about his friendship with the 70-year-old man, and how it’s carried on all these years.

He said the pair first met at Hull‘s Woodhill Closed Supervision Unit.

The 52-year-old told the : “I knew him very very well, he still sends me Christmas cards and things like that.”

Gillen spent more than 18 years of his life behind bars and was classed as a category A prisoner.

It came after he became known as a notorious figure in the criminal underworld, involved in heists and brutal fights.

He was released in 2003 and has been working to turn his life around ever since.

Gillen said he often reflects on Bronson, who was recently denied his eighth bid for freedom after spending nearly 50 years behind bars.

He revealed he thinks his pal should be released.

The reformed lag said: “Yes he absolutely should be let out.

“One of the problems with Charlie is the prison service treatment of him is a paradox because he’s still been in cages and units and all that. 

“So for him to have a chance at release they need to facilitate that in a planned way, that gives him a chance and society a chance for him to integrate into society and they haven’t been forthcoming in that.”

In March the Parole Board ruled Bronson lacked the “skills to manage his risk of future violence”.

The panel also denied a move to an open prison.

Currently, the inmate, who claims he now “hates violence”, is only allowed out of his cell for 90 minutes a day.

Responding to the judgment, his alleged son George Bamby said: “I would have loved Charlie to have been released but completely respect the decision of the Parole Board.”