Just weeks ago, he left soiled underpants stuffed down the lavatory in a fit of rage. On other occasions he left excrement smeared on the wall. He defied pleas not to constantly leave an electric stove on, and ignored repeated warnings not to leave half-eaten meals and unwashed dishes in the kitchen.

Staff grew so exasperated they even threw out his pet cat after he failed to clean up its mess. They also feared he had hidden a camera in its collar to spy on them.

Standing in the bathroom defiled by Assange just weeks ago, Ecuador’s UK Ambassador Jaime Marchan said: ‘When Assange wanted to be unpleasant he put excrement on the walls and underwear with excrement in the lavatory. We had to remind him to flush the toilet and clean the dishes. He had to be reminded of normal standards of behaviour all the time. He would always leave the cooker on.’

Mr Marchan, 72, a distinguished lifelong diplomat, is relieved to be rid of Assange. ‘The asylum system is to protect innocent people. [He] abused it. He is a predator.’