Black ex-prison officer says he has flashbacks after extreme racist abuse at Kent jail

Mbonu spent five years at the jail. ‘I believed in the dignity and potential of people, even in the most difficult and dehumanising environments,’ he said. Photograph: Martin Godwin/The Guardian

A black former prison officer has said he suffers flashbacks and nightmares after colleagues in a high-security jail subjected him to extreme racist abuse and managers failed to support him.

Nigerian-born Uzo Mbonu said he felt he was picked on and ostracised by other officers at HMP Swaleside in Kent because he did not have a British accent, did not understand the jokes his colleagues made, and challenged things he felt were going wrong.