A rapist facing years behind bars overdosed on a cocktail of drugs in a hotel room just days before he was due to be sentenced.

Lyndon Brand, from Broadstairs, had been found guilty three months earlier of raping a teenage girl more than two decades ago.

Following his conviction in November, the 60-year-old was released on bail and told to return to Canterbury Crown Court on February 13 to learn his fate.

But six days before, he was found dead in a room at Marston’s Canterbury Bell pub and hotel in Broadstairs.

An inquest into his death opened on Wednesday and was told he had died after taking a fatal combination of anti-depressants and morphine.

Brand, of Hopeville Avenue, had appeared on trial charged with two counts of rape following a police investigation in 2021 and 2022.

Giving evidence, his victim told how she had felt unable to disclose what had happened to her.

“I felt really disgusting,” she said.

“I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t have any friends. I fully internalised it.”

As she gave evidence, Brand - who denied the charges - could be seen shaking his head in the dock.

A jury found him guilty on November 21.

In October last year, before details of his sordid past emerged, Brand led a campaign to stop a housing association destroying a communal space enjoyed by him and neighbours.

Orbit Housing, which owns the bungalows that line Hopeville Avenue, said the garden furniture residents were using in their “wellbeing hub” was a hazard.

But Mr Brand said the situation was “health and safety gone mad”.

The inquest at Oakwood House in Maidstone was adjourned and listed for a full hearing on July 25.