A detainee committed suicide after texting his sister saying he “can’t carry on”, an inquest has found.

Tome Kirungi was found hanged in his cell at the Verne Immigration Removal Centre on Portland on August 6, 2015.

He was due to be deported back to his home country of Uganda after serving a 17-month prison sentence for assaulting his girlfriend. 

Following a four-day jury inquest in Dorchester into the death of the 30-year-old, a suicide conclusion was returned.

Jurors were told how Mr Kirungi sent text messages on the evening of August 5, 2015 just hours before he was found. 

One text, sent to his sister, said: “I have been thinking for a very long time now am going to die some of these days. 

“That is the fact I can’t carry on like this.”

He later sent a text to a different number saying: “I can’t go on anymore sis am sorry.”

The inquest heard how Mr Kirungi was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2007 and was taking medication whilst in the Verne.

Mr Kirungi was a user of the drug Spice, a synthetic cannabinoid, the jury heard.

Caroline Kinsella, a mental health nurse, said she believed the drug would “exacerbate” the symptoms of someone with a mental illness.

Psychiatrist Dr Nicholas Kosky saw Mr Kirungi on four occasions during his time in immigration detention, making his last visit to him on July 29 when he said he was downcast, but smiling by the end of the meeting. 

Dr Kosky said he was “very upset” after hearing of Mr Kirungi’s death, and “did not see it coming.”

On Wednesday, Dr Kosky said the amount of detainees transferred to mental health hospitals from the Verne was "extraordinary."

Evidence given by officers, medical staff, the centre’s substance misuse team and Dr Kosky during the inquest said that Mr Kirungi showed no sign that he was at risk of self-harm or suicide.

It was said that Mr Kirungi was bullied by other detainees who were aware that he had ‘large sums of money’ coming in. 

He was also assaulted by another detainee in the centre’s internet suite in July 2015.

Oliver Sanders QC, a representative for the Home Office and Ministry of Justice said: “We send our sympathies and condolences to Mr Kirungi’s family. 

“He was a popular detainee in the Verne.”

Mr Kirungi’s family were not present or represented during the inquest. 

As reported by the Dorset Echo earlier this month, the Verne will return to its former role as a men’s prison in 2018.