A coach driver was found dead in his court cell hours after he was jailed for making indecent images of boys, police confirmed today.

A coach driver was found dead in his court cell hours after he was jailed for making indecent images of boys, police confirmed today

Andre Chaplen, 43, was sentenced to a year and a half in prison by a judge at Norwich Crown Court yesterday after admitting 14 counts of making indecent images.

Earlier in the day the court heard that Chaplen, who ran his own coach business in Bedfordshire, where he lived, was staying at a hotel in Norwich with a coach party and started talking to some boys who were playing in the hotel grounds.

The court heard he paid them £1 each to help him clean his coach and later took them for a short ride on it.

Stephen Spence, prosecuting, said Chaplen suddenly produced a digital camera and asked the boys to lift their clothing.

He tried to get one of the boys to pull down his jogging trousers and then attempted to pull them down himself.

The boys later told their parents and police were contacted.

Chaplen was traced and a search of his home in Harlington found 511 indecent images of boys on his computer which he had downloaded from the internet.

In mitigation the court heard Chaplen, a married man, had sought help as he had recently developed a physical attraction for young boys.

A Norfolk Police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we were called just after 2.30pm yesterday to the cells at Norwich Combined Courts following reports that a man had been found dead there.

“We have now launched an investigation into the circumstances of the death of this 43-year-old man.”