Black prison officer tells of trauma after racist abuse from colleagues

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.

- Steven Morris

Nigerian-born Uzo Mbonu said he felt he was picked on and ostracized 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.

An employment tribunal found that insults colleagues used against Mbonu included extreme racial slurs and racial stereotyping. The tribunal ruled that Mbonu, 53, was the victim of direct race discrimination, harassment related to race, and constructive unfair dismissal.

Mbonu, who spent five years at the prison on the Isle of Sheppey, told the Guardian he joined because he wanted to make society a better place. "I was extremely passionate about rehabilitating offenders," he said. "I believed in the dignity and potential of people, even in the most difficult and dehumanising environments."