A main suspect in the Brabant ‘torture chamber’ case has died of cancer at the age of 41, his lawyers have told the Parool.

The public prosecution department says former sports school owner Robin van O was responsible for building the torture chamber in a shipping container, which was discovered by police two years ago and led to headlines round the world.

Last month, 11 men were jailed for between one and nine years for their role in the case which centred on seven sound-proofed containers in a warehouse in Brabant which had been kitted out as cells.

Ringleader Roger P, nicknamed Piet Costa, was jailed for 33 months, which comes on top of the 15 year sentence he was given in April for smuggling cocaine on a massive scale.

Van O’s case did not go to full trial because the court agreed he was not physically or mentally in a position to go through a major criminal process because of his illness.