An Iraqi who escaped to the UK before becoming a security contractor in some of the most dangerous places in the world has published his first book.

Called Ebbing Sanity, it recounts his war experiences and his new life in Kingston.

Martin Allan, 43, was born in Guildford to Iraqi parents but moved back to the Middle East when he was five, after his father got a job lecturing at Baghdad University.

He found it hard to adapt to his new surroundings and often got into trouble for questioning authority under the rule of Saddam Hussein.

He said: “We were constantly being told that this was the most wonderful country but, even at my young age, I knew that couldn’t be true.”

When the Iraqi economy collapsed following the Gulf War Mr Allan moved back to the UK, settling in Guildford before moving to Kingston.

Deciding on a career in security work, he completed an 18-month protection course and picked up occasional bodyguard work.

But it was not until the Iraq War started in 2003 that Mr Allan’s skills started to pay off.

He said: “The dynamics of security had changed. There were not enough soldiers and private security firms picked up the slack.

“If you have 300,000 soldiers in an area then people are going to care but no one really thought about private firms.

“I had a friend who was working for one and, because I had the training and could speak Arabic, he called me up.”

A Financial Times investigation revealed the US alone spent at least $138bn on private security firms during the Iraq War.

Mr Allan found himself working for Andrews International Government Services, which specialised in security for the US Department of Defence.

He acted as a liaison and reconnaissance agent operating in Baghdad and the Middle East for the next eight years.

He protected oil zones, convoys and gathered intelligence.

He said: “Iraq was a wreck. I remember not long after I arrived a rocket propelled grenade hit a car just behind me and I thought, ‘Someone, not too far away, is trying to kill me’. That was a very strange feeling.

“The most disturbing part of the whole thing was talking to someone over breakfast and finding out in the afternoon they were dead.”

Mr Allan is now critical of the war.

He said: “When I ventured outside the base and saw the total chaos, despair and disappointment I realised the removal of the supreme evil that was Saddam had been squandered.

“Iraq was a heavily militarised country and and when the army was disbanded, weapon stocks were left unattended.

“It was a free-for-all.

“The police were disbanded and there was no one there to maintain law and order except the occupying forces. It bred resentment.

“The reports that have come out since say there was not enough preparation. Having been there, I know that is true.”

In 2011 and 2012 Mr Allan was sent to Libya at the height of the rebel coup to protect a UK delegation.

It was witnessing another security officer being rude to Libyan rebels that made him want to get out of the industry.

He said: “It was my epiphany moment. I had grown into someone I didn’t have any connection with and I resigned that day.”

Ebbing Sanity is available on Amazon.