A KENT charity worker came face-to-face with the brutal reality of ethnic cleansing in Kenya when a violent gang confronted him outside a children’s rehabilitation centre.

Jonnie Horner, 24, has been hailed as a hero after standing his ground in the market town of Naivasha when militia came looking for members of rival tribes.

The former teacher had flown to the Kenyan town, thought to safe for travellers, with Bromley-based Christian charity Mission Care two weeks before violence broke out near the country’s border with Uganda and quickly moved to Naivasha.

In just one day, up to 40 people were murdered by gangs of thugs wielding machetes and clubs.

The militia, from the majority Kikuyu tribe, were exacting vengeance for atrocities committed against their people in other parts of the country.

When a gang turned up at the gates of the Sunshine Rehabilitation Centre for reformed street kids, Jonnie feared some of the youngsters would be beaten or killed.

He said: “I was at the gates with one of the guards when suddenly this gang of youths who had been going from house to house looking for people from other tribes arrived at the compound.

“They had machetes, clubs and sticks. For me, that was a real heart-in-your-mouth moment.”

Jonnie, a former pupil of Langley Park School for Boys, in Beckenham, said they were looking for members of rival tribes who didn’t speak Kikuyu.

He said: “They asked the guard if there were any non-Kikuyu there and he said no. The guard was lying to protect the young boys inside the compound, some of them as young as five.

“They were staring me in the face. If they wanted to, they could have just stormed the place and done what they wanted.”

Following the incident Jonnie’s boss, Mission Care chief executive Colin Bloom, told him to get to the airport and bought him a $700 ticket on a next day British Airways flight home.

Mr Bloom said he was certain his young colleague saved the Kenyan children’s lives.

He said: “I think if Jonnie hadn’t been there, they would have come after them. Just by his presence, Jonnie probably saved them.”

The children were transferred to a prison compound protected by police after the incident, and Jonnie arrived back at his parents’ home in Shortlands, Bromley, last Wednesday.

He said: “I’ve had amazing support from friends and family and a number of churches. I hope I can get out there again soon to continue our good work.”

Read the full story in this week’s Bromley Extra.