Manuel Bravo, 35, was found hanging from a bedsheet in a stairwell at the Yarl's Wood detention centre in Bedfordshire, the night after he and his 13-year-old son Antonio had been taken to the removal centre after a raid on their home in Paisley Street, Leeds.

The inquest heard that Mr Bravo wrote a letter on 14 September 2005, the night before he was found dead, in which he spoke about his desire to end his life to save his son.

He wrote: "I don’t come to Angola to suffer. I kill myself because I do not have a life to live any more... my son Antonio to stay in UK to continue his studies. It is not the fault of anyone, it is just my decision. I am sorry."

Mr Bravo had appealed against the decision to remove his asylum status, meaning he faced being returned to Angola where he claimed he and his family had been the victims of political violence and oppression.

But six months after his hearing, Mr Bravo had still not heard of the appeal decision, the inquest was told.

The hearing at Bedford Magistrates’Court was told that he wrote another letter, dated April 15, in which he expressed his frustration at the speed of the appeals process.

He wrote: "This situation is very distressful for me. I cannot work, I cannot do anything in my life. I want to return to my country but it is not safe for my son Antonio or me. I prefer to kill myself here in England.

"I do not have any family or friends here in England. If I die I would like my son Antonio to stay with the Government or NSPCC or youth protection."

Mr Bravo’s wife, Lydia, and other child, Mellyu, were jailed but later released when they returned to Angola in November 2004, said Reverend Alistair Kaye, a Bravo family friend and the parish priest of Christ Church in the Armley area of Leeds where they lived.

Mr Kaye said he spoke to Mr Bravo on the phone from Yarl’s Wood and said he was "very down".

He added: "It was apparent that Manuel had been deeply affected by his experiences in Angola. This was due to his family’s involvement in a democratic movement."

Since Mr Bravo’s death, Antonio has been taken into local authority care in Yorkshire and has been given a five-year leave to stay in the UK on humanitarian grounds.

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