A PILOT who returned home at the weekend after spending months in jail accused of mass murder spoke yesterday of his determination to return to the African country where he was imprisoned.

David Simpson, 24, from Gillamoor, near Pickering, North Yorkshire, said he twice thought he would be killed when his life working for a safari and hunting company in the Central African Republic descended into a nightmare.

He was jailed in March after he reported finding 13 bodies with machete wounds while clearing dense forest.

The killings have been linked to supporters of Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony.

Mr Simpson, who was told he faced the death penalty, suffered three bouts of malaria and was caught up in a prison riot.

He was eventually cleared of all charges and returned home on Saturday to be reunited with his parents at their pheasant farm on the North York Moors.

His father has threatened to rip up his passport after he said he wants to return to the country, but he has hidden it.

Mr Simpson said: “He does not understand. I can see that my family have had a terrible time, but it is something I really have to do.

“I have seen the worst of the country – it can be a horrible, corrupt place to work – but I have also seen the best of it, and it is absolutely stunning.”

He said he “got lucky” with his release, and believes he was being held as part of a conspiracy involving the country’s justice minister, who has recently been arrested for his part in a botched coup d’etat.

He said: “If that had not happened, I could have still been there.

“It is a huge relief to be home in peaceful North Yorkshire, and I do honestly think I am crazy to want to go back, but I believe the amazing media attention helped get me out, and I am sort of protected out there because I am so well-known and I have made so many contacts.”

Up to £30,000 has been paid by a national newspaper for his story, and he has been approached by two television companies that want to make documentaries.

He plans to use the money to set up a wildlife charity to protect the area he was working in.

Mr Simpson, who is planning to return in the middle of next month, said: “It is one of the biggest wildernesses left in Africa; there is nothing like it left in the world and it needs preserving.

“I have hidden my passport from my dad, but my mum wants to come out and see the place. If I end up in prison again, I will call it a day.”