The family of a homeless man who died in a tent in a busy town centre have revealed they only found out about this death seven weeks after he passed away.

Samson Paine’s brother, Clint, has spoken exclusively to our sister paper the Medway Messenger and described how he and his family were unable to say a proper goodbye to him as he had already been cremated by the time they found out about his tragic death.

The family, who say they are devastated, do not understand why more was not done to locate them and say they would have liked to have organised his funeral and given him a proper send-off.

They feel the police could have done more to find them and cannot understand why Samson’s girlfriend Kayliegh Wilkes did not do more to inform them about what had happened.

Samson, who was 28, died in a tent on a patch of grass in Dock Road, Chatham on June 15, after he had taken heroin with Ms Wilkes.

An inquest into his death heard he had fallen asleep and suffered heart failure. Tests revealed he had taken a mixture of drugs and alcohol but assistant coroner Katrina Hepburn concluded he did not die of an overdose.

Instead she determined his death was “drug related” and that an existing heart condition and morbid obesity had contributed to causing heart failure.

Clint Paine, 32, who lives in Bedfordshire, said: “My mum, Tina, lives in Ireland and got a phone call out of the blue from a homeless charity informing her Samson had died. She’s in bits and is still in shock.

“To find out he had died but to then be told he had already been cremated was even worse, he was all alone and she is in bits.”

Mr Paine, the oldest of seven children, admits he had not spoken to his brother for several years, but said Samson was in regular contact with his mother in Ireland.

He added: “Samson would call mum every couple of months. She had offered to take him and Kayliegh in so they could sort themselves out but they refused.”

Samson’s ashes will now be returned to his mother in Ireland.

Mr Paine added: “We will do something together as a family for Samson, but we are angry he had to have a pauper’s funeral when we could have organised that and given him a proper send-off.

“My whole family is devastated about his death, he was 28 years old. It’s not right and we also can’t understand why the police never found us either, they’ve still not bothered contacting us.”

Samson’s father Steve was from Kent and Mr Paine thinks that may be why Samson settled in the Towns.

He said: “He lost his way about 10 years ago and started taking heroin and that, but before drugs took over his life he was a funny, happy, kind, polite and caring young man.

“Samson was my brother and I loved him, we all did. We are all upset he was alone when he was cremated" - Clint Paine

“He loved football, and supported Spurs and when we were younger he enjoyed boxing. He was a typical youngster, liking football and girls.

“Samson was my brother and I loved him, we all did. We are all upset he was alone when he was cremated.”

Mr Paine’s death prompted calls for Medway to do more to tackle homelessness. A meeting was held in Strood to discuss the issue and Medway Council has been urged to redouble its efforts.

A police spokesman said: “Officers completed a number of inquiries and intelligence checks to locate Mr Paine’s family but this unfortunately proved unsuccessful.

“When police have exhausted all reasonable opportunities to locate next of kin, the responsibility is then taken on by the Coroner’s Office.

“Since contact has now been established with Mr Paine’s family, an officer from Kent Police will be making contact with them in the near future to offer them our condolences and to help them to understand the process more fully.”