Charles Bronson, who has gone by a number of names over the dramatic course of his life, has made his fair share of enemies in his many years behind bars – including convicted killer John Massey

Charles Bronson has garnered a reputation as Britain's "most violent" prisoner over the years, having sparked one-man riots in prisons and secure psychiatric facilities over and over again.

But one former lag claims it's simply an "act". John Massey, who served 43 years for the 1975 murder of pub doorman Charlie Higgins, was once himself the longest-serving prisoner in the United Kingdom. But he now stands to have his record eclipsed by Bronson. He told podcaster Dodge Woodall: “As far as I'm concerned [Bronson] can have the f***ing title , because I don't want it.”

He believes Bronson could easily earn his own freedom if he wanted. “He could get out, he could still get his freedom now if he dropped all the b******s, started talking sensible and stopped telling f***ing lies and putting all the act on – becoming normal,” John claimed.

There’s little love lost between Massey and Bronson. Massey, 76, says he tried to take the young man “under his wing” when they first met but he has now severed all contact. He continued: “I don't wish the geezer any ill-will or anything but he's kind of made his own bed he's got to lie in it.

“When he first came away I was in Franklin, and he was just a big soppy kid then. We felt like he needed to tone it down a bit. We kind of looked after him, but then he kind of got too comfortable and the bully in him started coming out.

“He was taking liberties and acting f*****g weird and to my mind it was all scripted and manufactured.”

Massey says that Bronson has become a prisoner of his own manufactured persona. He continued: “He’s built up this character and I think he's locked into the role now.”

The pair fell out after one of Bronson’s “army of fans and wannabes” sent him an unsolicited gift of £25 – something Bronson felt was unfair.

In response, Massey sent the woman £50 back and told her never to contact him again. But the incident also created a rift between the two men, which was only worsened by Bronson’s treatment of his former PA, who is still very close to Massey.

Massey isn’t the only prisoner that Bronson has clashed with over the years. Serial killer Robert Maudsley, dubbed Hannibal the Cannibal over claims he ate one of his victims' brains, has spent over 40 years behind bars.

He reportedly ”hated” Bronson when they were both locked up in "Monster Mansion" prison HMP Wakefield.

Maudsley would play rock music at ear-splitting levels to annoy Bronson, in the cell next door, and the former bareknuckle fighter would retaliate with eerie whistling designed to remind Maudsley of his domineering mother.