An actress who married notorious prisoner Charles Bronson was found unconscious on her bed next to two bags of ‘white powder’, an inquest heard.
Paula Williamson, 38, was discovered at home by her partner in Gordon Avenue, Sneyd Green, Stoke-on-Trent on July 29, assistant coroner Sarah Murphy said.
Opening an inquest into the death on Thursday, Miss Murphy said: ‘Details reported to the coroner’s court are that the patient was found on a bed by her partner.
Paula Williamson (pictured in 2018), Charles Bronson’s ex-wife, was found dead at her home aged 38. She previously starred in Coronation Street, Hollyoaks and Emmerdale, before she met Bronson in 2016 in prison
Bronson (pictured, left, at the High Court in London in 2001) said he was ‘shocked and upset’ after the death of his ex-wife (right)
Miss Williamson’s death came just days after Bronson revealed plans to marry the new love of his life called ‘Joan’ (both are pictured together in a frame made by Bronson)
‘She was unconscious with vomit from her mouth and there were two small bags of white powder stuck to her.’
Ms Williamson, who said last month she and Mr Bronson had applied to have their marriage annulled, had played minor roles in Coronation Street and Emmerdale.
Williamson (left) had struggled with anxiety and depression, an inquest into the former wife of Charles Bronson (right) heard today
She met the renowned criminal in prison in late 2016, and they were married in November 2017. Staffordshire Police had previously confirmed the death was not suspicious.
Miss Murphy, sitting at Stoke and North Staffordshire Coroner’s Court, said Miss Williamson – also known as Paula Joy Salvador – had a previous history of ‘anxiety and depression’ and been through ‘detox’ last year.
She added: ‘We do not have a cause of death. Due to the circumstances, there is reason to suspect the death was unnatural, so an inquest will need to take place.
‘I am not going to give a date of inquest at this stage. I will provide an update to the family by September 19; either an update or date of inquest, depending on how quick we get the evidence through but I open an inquest now into death of Paula Salvador.’
Paula Williamson was found dead aged 38 by her new lover Peter Jones (pictured together), 53, after a night out in the Sneyd Green area of Stoke-on-Trent late last month
The hearing was adjourned for a date to be set.
Miss Williamson married Britain’s most violent prisoner at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire, with Bronson handcuffed to the warder for two hours during the ceremony.
But their relationship quickly fell apart and Bronson, 66, was left outraged by a photograph of the actress with a man’s head in her breasts on holiday in Tenerife.
The couple’s marriage was set to be annulled in June, a process that normally takes two weeks, but it is not clear if it went through before her death.
The marriage was never consummated, and unions in England and Wales are allowed to be annulled if newlyweds have not had sex since tying the knot.
Williamson’s death came on the same day Bronson announced he wanted to marry a pensioner called Joan when he is released from prison.
Bronson is one of the country’s most notorious prisoners and has spent the majority of the past four decades imprisoned for a series of violent crimes.
In recent years he has turned his hand to art and changed his surname from Bronson to Salvador in tribute to the Spanish surrealist artist Salvador Dali.
He first struck up a relationship with Miss Williamson, who also had roles in Emmerdale and Hollyoaks, in 2013 after they started writing to one another.
Bronson had previously said he wanted to have children with Miss Williamson, claiming he would be the ‘best dad in the world’.
He was first locked up for armed robbery in 1974, but during his time inside he has taken hostages in ten prison sieges and attacked at least 20 prison officers.
Last November he was cleared of trying to seriously harm a prison governor after being accused of threatening to gouge the man’s eyes out at HMP Wakefield.
Life and times of Charlie Bronson, the man dubbed ‘Britain’s most dangerous prisoner’
Pictured: Charles Bronson
Charles Bronson, whose original name was Michael Gordon Peterson, was born in Luton, Bedfordshire, in 1952.
From a young age Bronson indulged in petty crime, joining a gang of four robbers at the age of 13.
He was given a number of suspended sentences and reprimands until he was first sent to jail for armed robbery in 1974 for seven years aged 22.
While in Walton Gaol, he randomly attacked two prisoners and was sent to Hull the following year.
In the next few years, Bronson continued to attack other inmates, adding months to his sentence and being switched between prisons.
At HMP Wandsworth, he tried to poison another prisoner, leading to him being sent to Parkhurst psychiatric facility where he befriended the infamous Kray twins.
He even described the pair, who ruled the East End of London with their gang during the 1950s and 1960s, as ‘the best two guys I’ve ever met’.
Again, he continued to attack other prisoners, threaten police officers, took people hostage and even attempted suicide as he was moved from prison to prison.
In 1982, he performed a rooftop protest at Broadmoor, removing tiles from the top of the building. He took part in a number of protests over the years, causing hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of damage.
He was released in 1987, and began boxing in the East End of London, changing his name to Charles Bronson after the actor.
After just 69 days of freedom, he was once again jailed for armed robbery for seven years in 1988.
In 1989, he created a spear out of a broken bottle and a broom handle and ran riot in the nude.
Three years later, he was released – this time lasting 53 days outside jail. He was arrested for conspiracy to rob.
In 1993, he took a librarian hostage and asked police to get him a cup of tea, a helicopter, and an inflatable doll.
Three years later, he took two Iraqi prisoners hostage in Belmarsh, demanding a plane, sub-machine guns and ice cream from police negotiators before releasing them.
He was handed a life sentence in 1999 for taking Phil Danielson hostage and trashing the prison in a 44-hour long siege.
In 2001, he married Fatema Saira Rehman, and converted to Islam, demanding to be known as Charles Ali Ahmed. After they divorced four years later, he renounced the religion.
In 2014, he changed his name to Charles Salvador, after Salvador Dali.
Bronson and Paula Williamson met in 2016, and Bronson later proposed to her in 2017 by serenading her a version of the Frank Sinatra classic My Way, from a prison pay phone.
They married in November 2017, and walked down the aisle to the Death March. They had their marriage annulled in June 2019.
In total, Bronson has taken hostages in ten prison sieges and attacked at least 20 prison officers.
