Members of the Judicial Parole Board have decided to hold a private parole hearing for Britain’s longest and most notorious prisoner, Charles Bronson.

The decision comes after the 72-year-old (who later renamed Charles El Salvador) attended one of the country's first public parole hearings in 2023.

A document was released Tuesday, and Jeremy Roberts KC, a member of the Judicial Parole Board, said he has not approved the disclosure of the Bronson parole hearing application.

Bronson has been imprisoned for most of the past 48 years, except for two brief periods (during which he re-offered) for numerous thefts, guns and violent crimes, including 11 hostage incidents in nine different sieges.

The victims included the prison governor, doctors, staff, and his own lawyer once.

Bronson, whose name is Michael Peterson, was diagnosed with antisocial personality disorder, was sentenced to a disposable life sentence for 44 hours of hostages at HMP Hull, and was sentenced to a minimum term of four years in 2000. Since then, the parole board has repeatedly refused to direct his release.

The parole comment for 2023 is his eighth place.

Bronson was the first prisoner to formally request a public hearing after changing rules in 2022 to remove confidentiality around the parole process.

Roberts said in a document released Tuesday that the inmate’s attorney held an application for a public hearing on February 9.

Representative Bronson said he “considered him directly responsible for the law and parole board rules and therefore should be allowed to attend public hearings.”

He had a reasonable expectation that his subsequent parole hearing would be held in public during a long lawsuit to facilitate changes in the rules”.

Roberts said Bronson was responsible for the fact that the law changes were "any reasonable expectation that his subsequent hearing would be held in public."

Bronson's lawyers said the prisoner was "not vulnerable, and given his willingness to hold a public hearing," it could lead to inappropriate emotional stress if the hearing was not held publicly.

They added: "He believes he will get the best evidence, which will not be affected by the public hearing."

But Roberts said: “The prisoner is obviously smart (although responsible for some weird beliefs and attitudes), and I don’t think he would be subject to improper emotional pressure if this hearing was held privately.

“I believe he can 'best evidence', whether it is in public or in private hearings.”

Bronson's lawyer also said the public is often less familiar with the work of the parole board and that "the public has a public interest in increasing understanding."

The lawyer added that his client “feels that he has a significantly lower risk” and that “discussions about risks and reduced risks in public hearings will contribute to public confidence”.

Roberts agrees: “It is important for the public interest to increase public understanding of the parole process and, where possible, public confidence in the system.”

He also said that over the past few years, the parole board has made “tremendous efforts” to increase transparency in litigation proceedings.

Roberts said the introduction of public hearings is another step, but added: “Public hearings and arrangements are expensive and time-consuming, unless and until the necessary funding is provided to the board, in more cases, the choice of public hearings must be conducted in an increasing number of cases, and it is only possible to increase public understanding of the process at public hearings, or to some extent the public understands or benefits from other means.”

The Secretary of State's statement was provided on her behalf by a senior Justice official. The Justice Department said Bronson "the desire to resort to violence continues to be clear, and the Secretary of State is concerned that public hearings promote violence in ways that private hearings may not have."

"In recent years, inmates' attitudes towards (and with) prison staff have improved significantly," Roberts said.