Roma/London, 18 April 2007: Giovanni Di Stefano, a member of the defence team for Charles Bronson, announced today that top London QC James Lewis would represent his client in his bid to win freedom.
Mr Bronson was jailed in 2000 for the false imprisonment of a civilian employee at HMP Hull. He was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum term of 3 years but remains still in the highest level of security and has been isolated from all other prisoners for over 20 years. "The whole question here is one that requires a practise direction from the Courts as a matter of urgency. Putting it bluntly Mr Bronson was tried without the benefit of any lawyers acting for him and there were questions of his mental capacity, his ability to understand complex legal argument and issues of law that were beyond him. In our view the Trial Judge should have (as has happened in the case of Milosevic) appointed an amicus or a court appointed lawyer at the very least to protect his interests," said Di Stefano. "The time has come now for the Court of Appeal to give guidance to judges as to if, when and why an amicus should be appointed in cases that are too frequent of this nature," stated Di Stefano. "Mr Bronson was denied a fair trial because he was not legally represented in a trial involving complex issues of law. Everyone knew the incapacities of Mr Bronson yet allowed the trial to proceed without legal guidance. Even Saddam Hussein when we walked out of Court always had Court appointed lawyers as did Milosevic. The UK is the only Country within the EU that has no guidance or direction from the Lord Chief Justice to the judiciary as to when and if court appointed lawyers should be introduced."
Di Stefano said "Charles Bronson has been held in solitary confinement in a special caged unit for over 20 years. It is impossible for him to ever rehabilitate. Who with? He sees no one, talks to no one, has no one near him and it is no wonder Dr Bob Johnson former head of therapy at Ashworth Hospital states that when he examined Mr Bronson (which required a High court Order) he was still suffering from violence inflicted upon him. I ask myself if Mr Bronson is alone and totally isolated those injuries either came from ghosts or from prison officers and to date no enquiry has been held despite a medical report." Charles Bronson was sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended term of 3 years but remains in jail to date and remains in the highest level of security.
Di Stefano added that the reason Bronson remains in the highest level of security is for the purposes of mental torture as outlined in the report of Dr Johnson. "It took a High Court Order to permit Dr Johnson former head of therapy at Ashworth Hospital access to Mr Bronson. That is suspicious to say the least and without precedent."
James Lewis QC is a top QC specialising in domestic and international law and often acts for the Government. "I asked Mr Lewis if he would take this case because of the public interest issue," said Di Stefano. "I am glad we have him on our side."
The Criminal Cases Review Commission recently refused Mr Bronson a referred appeal for a re-hearing. A new application will be submitted on new evidence including fresh evidence from the victim Mr Danielson who in correspondence with Mr Di Stefano states that: "I was as much a victim of the State as Charlie."
ENDS
General medical report by Dr. Bob Johnson, 7 February 2003, doc format
CCRC reasons for not referring to the Court of Appeal, Feb 2000, pdf format
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