ALBERT WOODFOX, the last of the “Angola Three” prisoners to be released, has spoke of his 43 years in solitary confinement in Louisiana.

Mr Woodfox was finally freed on Friday, his 69th birthday, after pleading no contest to manslaughter charges in the 1972 killling of prison guard Brent Miller, to which he has always maintained his innocence.

On Saturday, he told reporters of the mental torture he suffered during more than four decades in a tiny, solitary cell.

“The cell starts closing in. The ceiling starts coming down.

“You go through this psychological self-analysis and then you’re talking to yourself and telling yourself that you’re strong enough … just trying to push these walls back and the ceiling back with the force of mind.”

Along with Robert King and Herman Wallace, Mr Woodfox was sent to Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola prison, in 1971 for armed robbery.

He escaped from the courthouse during his sentencing and joined the Black Panther Party during his brief time on the run.

After his recapture, he recruited the others into the Black Panthers and they began to agitate for better conditions.

The three men said this was the true reason they had been placed in permanent solitary confinement following their conviction for Mr Miller’s murder.

The trial hinged on the testimony of a serial rapist on death row who received a pardon in return.

Mr Woodfox’s conviction was twice overturned on appeals that were in turn challenged by the state.

Mr King was released in 2001 after his conviction was overturned. Mr Wallace was released in 2013 on compassionate grounds as he had terminal liver cancer.