Anti-virus software creator John McAfee has been found dead in a Spanish prison cell.

He was found in his Barcelona prison cell just hours after a Spanish court agreed to extradite him to the US to face tax evasion charges.

The Catalan Justice Department Prison surveillance operatives and medical services tried to save the 75-year-old, but could not resuscitate him

It said in a statement that "everything indicates" Mr McAfee took his own life.

McAfee was detained by American authorities on an international arrest warrant at Barcelona’s El Prat airport last October.

He was preparing to board a flight to Turkey but since than he has been held in custody in Brians 2 jail in Sant Esteve Sesrovires.

Mr McAfee was facing tax evasion charges in relation to income from speaking engagements and selling rights to his life story.

He was also charged in Tennessee with evading taxes after allegedly failing to report income made from promoting cryptocurrencies.

During his extradition hearing earlier this month, he claimed the accusations made against him were politically motivated.

He linked the charges to a failed bid to run as a Libertarian Party candidate in the 2020 US presidential election.

The controversial entrepreneur’s company created the first commercial anti-virus software which sparked a multi-billion dollar industry in computing.

McAfee was born in the UK in 1945 and his parents moved to Virginia when he was young.