A teenage prisoner found hanging in his cell after having an affair with his counsellor took his own life, an inquest jury has ruled today.

Anthony Dunne, an inmate at Rochester Young Offenders' Institution, began a stormy relationship with 43-year-old Anita Setz in 2004 after being released on licence.

It ended with the 19-year-old, who had a psychiatric disorder, hanging himself - despite being on suicide watch.

An inquest jury at County Hall in Maidstone returned a verdict of suicide today.

At the end of the hearing, coroner Andrew Campbell-Tiech QC praised Anthony's family, who travelled over from Ireland.

He said: "You, like others, have waited a long time for this inquest, something for which I am truly sorry.

"No one present in court for the last 10 days could fail to be moved by the dignity and fortitude you have shown."

The hearing was told that Ms Setz first met Anthony when he was serving a sentence for actual bodily harm and gave him counselling on behalf of a charity.

He begged her for her phone number and within weeks they were having sex.

But the relationship got out of control when Anthony returned 40 minutes late to his probation hostel in Essex after spending the day with her.

Scared he would be imprisoned again, he fled and lived with Ms Setz, a divorced mother-of-two, for three weeks.

While there, he ran out of his anti-psychotic drugs and beat her up.

Events came to a head on September 20, 2004, when the pair went to the cinema to see Collateral Damage.

Anthony drank heavily and when they got home, Ms Setz's friend arrived and took her sons into her car to escape.

He followed her as she tried to get into the car and headbutted her. As she tried to get help, he punched and beat her.

Ms Setz distracted Anthony and escaped by jumping from an upstairs window.

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Anthony was re-arrested in the loft of her house and taken back to Rochester Young Offenders' Institution.

He was assessed by a GP, who said Anthony posed no risk of self-harm or suicide.

This was despite Anthony being covered in fresh cuts and telling police that if they had not come he would have killed himself.

Later the same night, Anthony was found with a noose and placed on suicide watch every 15 minutes.

The next morning, prison staff met him for a second time.

Anthony was told he would no longer be able to contact Ms Setz and could face charges of grievous bodily harm.

He insisted to them that he posed no risk, and the checks were downgraded to hourly. Ten hours later he was found dead.

The inquest heard it took half an hour for an ambulance to come to his aid.

Paramedics first went to the wrong prison - Cookham Wood - and when they finally arrived they had to wait another 13 minutes because Andrew Brown, the worker authorised to let them through, was busy giving Anthony CPR.