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George Floyd death: Abused Ipswich chef says 'racism not just a US problem'

Brian Powlett Brian Powlett with his wifeBrian Powlett
Brian Powlett was walking with his wife Abby when someone in a passing car shouted racial abuse at him

A chef has shared his experience of being racially abused to highlight the "global problem" of racism following the death of George Floyd in the US.

Brian Powlett was walking with his wife Abby in the villages of Bramford and Sproughton, Suffolk, when a man in a passing car hurled racial abuse at him.

In an online blog, he said his wife turned to him in "shock and disbelief" and they both felt "shaken".

Mr Powlett, 45, said he wanted to show people "racism is right here".

The head chef at The Greyhound pub in Ipswich said the incident happened just moments after the "claps for carers" on 21 May.

"We were walking and chatting, we could hear the people and the birds and I thought this is lovely, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world," he said.

But within a "split second" their mood was "flipped completely on its head" as they heard a red Mazda car "speeding up past us". The car gave a "blast of the horn" and the couple heard abusive words shouted at Mr Powlett.

He said it took him a few days to write how he felt and to process the whole situation, but on hearing of Mr Floyd's death in the United States it "triggered me to hit the send button on my post".

Getty Images London protestGetty Images
Protests have been held in the UK in support of those in America angered by George Floyd's death

Mr Floyd, 46, died on 25 May after being arrested by police outside a shop in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Footage of the arrest shows a white police officer, Derek Chauvin, kneeling on Mr Floyd's neck while he was pinned to the floor.

Mr Chauvin, 44, has since been charged with murder.

Over the weekend, thousands of people chanted "Black Lives Matter" across the UK in support of protesters in America who are angered by Mr Floyd's death.

Mr Powlett said: "It's not just an American problem, racism is a global problem.

"We experienced that racism for a minute. It was a car going past in that split second, yelling abuse and that had a massive effect on me."

He said the response to his blog has been "overwhelming", with some people expressing how they were "shocked", saying "I didn't think that went on, not here in Suffolk".