An expatriate hotel director accused of sending a racially-charged e-mail is back in his job — despite publicly stating he was shipping out last year because he no longer felt comfortable here.

John O'Brien, executive director of Ariel Sands Residence Club, had offered to resign in July after a personal message he sent to his best friend, which included the phrase "the young lazy black militant do nothing a**hole", was made public.

He had said the email was stolen from his computer and passed to the Department of Immigration, which launched an investigation but decided not to revoke his work permit.

He told this paper last year: "I'm from Connecticut and I'm going back there because I just don't feel comfortable here any longer.

"It's on the news, it's on the radio. I said stuff in there that's been in every newspaper a hundred times but I'm being ostracised for it. I don't want to bring anymore notoriety on Ariel Sands."

But yesterday Mr. O'Brien said: "I left because I had a problem. I had to go to the doctor's, I had cancer and I was in hospital for four months with cancer in Boston. "I had offered to resign but my board had a meeting and they didn't want me to resign, so I didn't and after I got better, I came back to work.

"I was never asked to leave the country."

Last year Mr. O'Brien, who has been in Bermuda for more than six years, said he deeply regretted sending the email after he was subjected to verbal abuse from a young black man who he had asked to move his car from the entrance to Ariel Sands.

He said the man called him a "white b****" and "white m*******er" and told him to go back to his own country before driving off. Later that day, Mr. O'Brien sent the message to his friend in New York. It has been reported as reading: "Sick of it here and it is getting pretty ugly with this new (8 years now) Black Government.

"Governor and Premier fighting, they arrested the Auditor General, who is a good guy, because he was investigating an $8 mil short in a project which involved all the top brass — lots of racial tension stuff as the Party in Power is screwing up so they are always using the race card which only incites the young lazy black militant do nothing a**hole here- more crime, etc. etc. needs a new party — needs an election soon."

Last year he said he believed the email had been taken by someone he had left alone in his office with access to his computer.