Warning: This story refers to suicide. 

A gay man who was jailed after trying to take his own life succeeded in doing so a year later, after being subjected to homophobic bullying in prison and then told he faced deportation.

Manoel Messias Santos, 50, was charged with arson in October 2019 after trying to kill himself by setting fire to his bedroom, shortly after being discharged from a psychiatric facility.

He was found dead in his cell at south London’s Belmash prison 13 months later, after being told the Immigration Service planned to deport him.

He had written a letter nine days before his death to a charity, pleading for assistance – but the prison had waited five days to post it.

Behind bars, Mr Santos had formed a friendship with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, whose wife Stella tweeted about his death in 2020.

News Shopper: Manoel Santos had formed a friendship with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange inside HMP Belmarsh. Mr Assange called for his death to be investigatedManoel Santos had formed a friendship with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange inside HMP Belmarsh. Mr Assange called for his death to be investigated (Image: PA Wire/PA)

She said Mr Santos had been an “excellent” singer and that Mr Assange “hopes there will be an investigation”.

“Manoel was at high risk,” Mrs Assange – then Mrs Moris – wrote on Twitter. “His suicide was foreseeable.”

Mr Santos had a history of severe mental illness and was known by the prison to suffer from suicidal thoughts.

South London coroner Jenny Goldring has written a report to government saying further deaths could occur if changes are not made.

She issued the “prevention of future deaths” report after an inquest jury found last month that “confusion” and “poor communication” among official agencies were factors in Mr Santos’ death.

A separate report, by the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman, has also raised concerns that homophobic bullying towards Mr Santos inside Belmash was “not properly followed up”.

“There is no evidence that staff took any action,” it said.

Mr Santos, who had lived in the UK since spring 1997, was finally granted asylum in 2019.

But in the same year, Mr Santos – suffering from poor mental health – was detained under the mental health act.

After his release, he tried to take his own life by setting fire to his own bed.

He survived the incident only to be charged with arson. He was remanded to Belmarsh in November 2019.

He reported feeling suicidal after being convicted of arson several months later, but was said to be “relieved” in May 2020 when he was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment, meaning he would be released on licence in late October.

However, in October 2020, as he was preparing for freedom, he was told the Immigration Service was seeking to deport him and he would not be released after all.

Mrs Goldring found Mr Santos should have been told about this earlier, but that it was commonplace for prisoners not to receive notification of deportation proceedings on time.

Prisoners should be told if they face deportation proceedings a minimum of 30 days before what would have been their release date, but in 40% of cases that target is missed and in 13% of cases they are not told until a week or less before they expected to be freed.

Mr Santos was told eight days later than he should have been.

The Home Office would not respond to this specific criticism other than to say it “will be responding to the prevention of future deaths report through the proper channels".

On October 24, Mr Santos wrote a letter to a charity about his fear of being deported to Brazil after almost 25 years in the UK, citing “his sexuality and his health”.

Homosexuality is legal in Brazil but a 2018 report by Stonewall said more than 300 people per year were murdered there in anti-LGBT hate crimes.

The prison did not post Mr Santos’ letter until October 29.

On the morning of November 2, “the night officer found Mr Santos hanging during a routine check”, the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman wrote.

He had been dead long enough that rigor mortis had already set in.

A letter found in his cell indicated he had decided to take his own life on October 26, and included a list of people he wanted informed.

The ombudsman found that while “there were shortcomings in the management of Mr Santos’ risk of suicide and self-harm”, staff “could not have predicted his death”.

News Shopper: Manoel Santos was found in the early hours of November 2, 2020. He had written a letter to a charity nine days earlier, seeking help, but the prison waited five days to post itManoel Santos was found in the early hours of November 2, 2020. He had written a letter to a charity nine days earlier, seeking help, but the prison waited five days to post it (Image: Anthony Devlin/PA)

There were, however, failures in the response to the bullying he was suffering.

“Intelligence suggested that Mr Santos was being bullied,” the ombudsman wrote. “The security department sent a generic email asking managers on Mr Santos’ wing to investigate, but no one recalled seeing this and no one acted on it. There was no system for following this up.”

The Ministry of Justice said Belmarsh had “accepted and implemented all of the ombudsman’s recommendations, including improving how claims of bullying and discrimination are recorded and investigated".

The Home Office said: “The health and wellbeing of people detained under immigration powers is of the utmost importance.”

It said any recommendations by the ombudsman would be “thoroughly examined to see how they can be used to help learn lessons".