The disgraced former celebrity publicist Max Clifford has died in hospital after suffering a heart attack, the Ministry of Justice has said. He was 74.
Clifford was jailed in 2014 for eight years after being convicted of eight counts of indecent assault against a number of girls and young women.
His daughter Louise told the Mail on Sunday Clifford collapsed in his cell at Littlehey Prison in Cambridgeshire last week. He was taken to hospital where he died on Sunday.
“HMP Littlehey prisoner Maxwell Clifford died in hospital on 10 December 2017," a Prison Service spokesperson said.
“As with all deaths in custody there will be an investigation by the independent Prisons and Probation Ombudsman. Our condolences are with Mr Clifford’s family at this difficult time."
Clifford was convicted of historic sex offences after being charged under Operation Yewtree, the police investigation set up following the Jimmy Savile scandal.
While on trial, Clifford was filmed creeping up behind a Sky News reporter and mimicking his actions. The broadcast was not transmitted live, but the clip was shown in court.
Prior to his arrest, Clifford said he was fielding calls from celebrities worried that Yewtree detectives could turn their attention to them. During a live TV interview, Clifford said that in the 1960s and 1970s stars "never asked for anybody's birth certificate".
In court, it emerged that some of Clifford's victims were as young as 15.