A man who firebombed an immigration processing centre issued far-right rants against asylum seekers and Muslims before the attack, an inquest has heard.

Far-right supporter Andrew Leak threw four improvised explosives from his car window at the Western Jet Foil Centre in Dover before taking his own life.

The 66-year-old had driven more than 100 miles from his home in High Wycombe to east Kent.

Security staff rushed to extinguish the fire as flames surrounded the hoarding of the site.

Two small injuries were reported in the shocking attack on October 30, 2022.

Leak then drove to the BP garage in Limekiln Street and set off fireworks before taking his own life as police hunted him.

An inquest yesterday confirmed he died from asphyxiation and the manner of his death was ruled a suicide.

Leak had been the subject of an eight-hour stand-off with police a few months before the attack after he told them he was going to kill himself in an Oxfordshire graveyard, MailOnline reports.

He was taken into custody and told officers he had viewed or thought of looking at indecent images of children. Evidence of the incitement of racial hatred was found on his iPad and mobile phone.

There had been no police investigation into terrorism before the retired labourer attacked the centre in 2022.

However, Leak's social media pages were found to be littered with far-right content, including tirades against asylum seekers, Muslims and the royal family.

The hearing was also told Leak had suffered with his mental health, which spiralled further out of control after his son’s sudden death months before the attack.

Assistant coroner for Mid-Kent and Medway coroner Scott Matthewson said: “He was clearly affected by the state of his mental health.”

He confirmed the cause of death as asphyxiation and the manner of his death as suicide.

A toxicology report found traces of prescription drugs as well as cocaine, codeine and heroin in Leak's bloodstream.