A nine-year-old boy who was murdered by his father before he shot himself in a hotel room in South Africa was unlawfully killed, a coroner has ruled.

Noah Smith, who lived in Burham, had travelled to Johannesburg with his dad, Dr Vuyo Tame, at the turn of the year.

On January 8, staff at the Radisson Blu hotel found Noah and Tame unresponsive before paramedics pronounced them both dead at the scene.

At his inquest today, Coroner Ian Wade said: “The only conclusion which emerges from these findings of fact is one of unlawful killing.”

A post-mortem found the cause of Noah’s death to be poisoning from an over-the-counter drug.

He may have also been smothered, most likely with a pillow, the inquest was told.

Officials suspect Tame killed his son – who was a member of St Paul’s Scout Group and lived in Rochester Road – before taking his own life shortly after.

Noah's mum, Vicky Smith, remembered him as a boy with "a rare, unforgettable charisma", who was in black belt training at Kung Fu and also enjoyed football and tennis.

More than £3,000 has been raised in Noah’s memory, which will be used to help the Maidstone scout club to grow and expand.

An inquest into his death was opened adjourned back in June while officials concluded an investigation in South Africa.

The hearing resumed today and was told how Tame had taken his son to his home town of Maclear, in the Eastern Cape, where they had "a lovely time", having flown out on December 17.

However, just before leaving, Tame had asked his mother for access to a pistol he had owned, but never used, since his youth.

He claimed he needed to renew its licence and had also told her prior to leaving: “If anything happens to me and Noah, please cremate us within three days and scatter our ashes on our father’s grave”.

He also sent a message to his brother, Sisa, saying: "You are an incredible brother, I wish you all the best for 2018 and the future. If I can't do so, please take care of our mother."

The court also heard how Tame received an email days before the incident confirming he had won the lottery, but the size of the prize is unknown.

He then transferred hundreds of pounds into the accounts of his brother, sister and mother, which Sisa described as a "surprise" but added it was not unusual for him to give them money.

The father was said to have presented himself as "charming and charismatic", but had another side to him which was "controlling and manipulative".

Tame had left two notes in the hotel room, one with the names and numbers of his mother, brother and sister, and another, alongside the weapon, which simply read: "This gun is licenced, you can check with the authorities".

Mr Wade concluded that Tame had "no intention" of boarding a flight back to the UK from Johannesburg on January 4.

He told his family he had missed the flight and then no more contact was made until details of the tragedy emerged five days later.

He said: "I'm quite satisfied that whatever happened inside that room involved only Noah and his father.

"Vuyo has proved to be deceitful and uncaring. He was the reasonable adult. I find that Noah could not have been awake or alert at the time that Vuyo took his own life with his pistol.

"If he had been awake or alert, it's surely unlikely that a nine-year-old would not have raised the alarm on finding his father dead in these extraordinary circumstances.

"Noah was already unconscious or dead before his father committed suicide. I am quite satisfied that is what the father did.

"It must be that Noah's dad administered the drug, and given his experience, he must have known what effect that would have.

"His subsequent act leaves me all the more sure that the dad acted deliberately and in accordance with a pre-determined plan.

"I find that Noah's father had no intention of returning him to the UK. I find he did the act which cost Noah his life - the administering of a noxious substance in a toxic quantity.

"It may also have involved additional act of smothering, and if that had been done, it probably would have been a pillow."

A spokesperson for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said: “Our staff have been supporting the family of a British child following his death in South Africa in January, and continue to do all they can to assist them.”

The inquest concluded at 3.05pm.

Our live blog followed the inquest into Noah's death which was held at Archbishops Palace, Maidstone:

3.02pm

Addressing Miss Smith, Mr Wade said: “I express my deep condolences.

"I hope that enough time has passed for you at least to find some kind of stability, but I can’t conclude how you will ever, ever recover from this, and nor should you be expected to.

"However you have shown enormous grace and fortitude for which you are entitled to huge respect.”

2.55pm

Coroner Ian Wade said: “The only conclusion which emerges from these findings of fact is one of unlawful killing.”

2.40pm

Continuing her evidence, Miss Smith said: “Noah spent the weekend with him between November 30 and December 2 and when he came back he didn’t look well.

"He wasn’t right when he came back so I called him off school. I updated Vuyo but he wasn’t concerned which was unlike him. Christmas 2017 was his turn to have Noah and he’d arranged to take him to South Africa.

"They were travelling from December 17 to January 5. I spoke to Noah regularly and everything seemed to be fine.

"The last contact I had with him was on December 30 when I had a missed call from a South African mobile number. I rang it back and he answered. He said he was having a great time.”

2.36pm

Miss Smith added: “In 2017 I went on a residential court and told Vuyo Noah would be looked after by Mark. But Vuyo turned up and took him to a hotel in Maidstone until I was back. I told the police but there was nothing I could do.

"He presents himself as charming and charismatic, but he had another side which was controlling and manipulative."

2.30pm

Miss Smith said: “I never had any concerns about him looking after Noah.

"He adored him to the point where he was almost obsessed with him. He wanted to know everything that was going on.

"He would question every injury. He was constantly criticising me and my parenting skills.

"I used to have panic attacks because I knew I would be interrogated by him. He was so controlling, he made me feel awful. I felt like I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.”

2.10pm

Miss Smith added: “He then left the hospital because he knew what our colleague would think of what he’d done. The only real contact I had with him then for weeks was an aggressive call that I hadn’t left the house we’d lived in in a tidy state.

"He didn’t enquire about my pregnancy at all. I moved in with my mum in Kent. He was aware of my due date but wasn’t sure if he could make it to the birth. I went into labour two weeks early and called him to tell him. He seemed pleased and said he may be able to visit the following week.

"He first met Noah when he was three weeks old. He said he wanted him to have his surname but I refused because of the limited support he’d given. I was unsure if he would be there for Noah in the future. At a registry meeting he was verbally aggressive towards me. He eventually agreed he would have my surname. I called my mum in tears because of how he’d treated me. Staff had to accompany me to my car that day.

"I didn’t hear from him again until I got a letter when Noah was about 6 months. He requested a DNA test even though there was never any question that he was his father. I did the test and it showed him to be his dad. He had a daughter in South Africa and made her mother take a DNA test as well. We agreed he would visit every Thursday but he was usually late or would cancel by text. This continued until Noah was three.

“One day Noah fell off my new partner’s shoulders and injured himself. Vuyo reported it to social services and the police but nothing came of it.

"My partner struggled to deal with so much scrutiny. This caused us to split up. He later asked for an opportunity to be a better dad. When Noah started school his dad spoke to him on the phone every day at 7pm.

"He’d have him every other week and every other Christmas. We’d share him in the summer. I always invited him to his birthday parties. Noah was at a primary school in Whitstable but wasn’t happy there and we decided to move him to an independent school in Maidstone.

“I moved in with my new partner Mark Price and Vuyo didn’t take it well. He said I was creating an unstable life for Noah. My life was so closely scrutinised but he never told me about his life. I believe he lived in Reading and owned a property which he rented out in Bracknell. He worked at Nuffield Health in Reading.”

1.50pm

Vicky Smith, a nurse, said in 2008 she and Dr Tame moved in together and were happy.

She said: "In March I found out I was pregnant. Initially he seemed happy but as time moved on he became cold towards me.

“He was working away at various different hospitals, often a week at a time, and only came home once a month for a week. He seemed reluctant to talk about the future. When I suggested getting married he laughed it off.

“He was cold to me at work and colleagues started to notice. When they talked to him about the baby, he referred to it as a foetus and questioned why they were congratulating him.

“I was getting more and more concerned about his behaviour and this was compounded when he said he may not be able to make it to my first scan.

“Eighteen weeks into the pregnancy he left me and moved out of the house we were renting. He said it was because we were arguing. To this day I don’t really know why he ended our relationship.”

1.28pm

Noah's mum Vicky Smith said she feared at times following a tumultuous relationship with her ex-partner that he may have tried to abduct their son, but there were “no concerns at all when he took him to South Africa”. She never thought he could do anything like this.

She said: “I can’t come to terms with what has happened. It still doesn’t feel real. There were absolutely no signs he would do something like this.

“I’ve been trying to work out why Vuyo would do such an awful thing. On reflection he seemed to be spoiling him more last year than he did before. He took him on expensive holidays, lavished him with expensive gifts.”

1.25pm

Detective Inspector Kay Braybrook told the court the room was double-locked and there was no indication of third party involvement. She said it was “absolutely” her understanding Dr Tame had murdered his son.

1.21pm

Officials in South Africa initially reported bruising on Noah’s neck, consistent with strangling, but this was not corroborated by post-mortem tests in the UK.

His cause of death was given as poisoning.

Smothering with a pillow was not ruled out but was not deemed to be the primary cause of death

1.18pm

The court was told Noah and Dr Tame had spent several days travelling around South Africa visiting the father’s family, where they’d enjoyed “a lovely time”.

Dr Tame was described as being “obsessed” with his son.

1.12pm

Noah Smith, nine, from Burham, and his dad, Dr Vuyo Tame, were found dead in room 704 at the Radisson Blu hotel in Johannesburg by staff on January 8.

The body of Noah, a keen Boy Scout, was discovered lying next to his father’s with “white frothy fluid” coming out of his mouth.

Officials suspect his death to have been caused by poisoning, at the hand of Tame, who later shot himself with a black pistol he had owned while growing up in South Africa.

12.45pm

Vuyo Tame told his mother just before leaving to fly back to the UK: “If anything happens to me and Noah, please cremate us within three days and scatter our ashes on our father’s grave”.