Authorities in the UK are investigating the death of a paedophile drag queen after he was found dead in the street in full stage costume.

Jeweller Darren Moore, 39, a convicted sex offender, had been reported missing after disappearing on a night out with friends.

Moore, known as Crystal Couture, was wearing a blonde wig, full make-up, false breasts, a yellow dress with frilly sleeves, and a matching handbag on the night he went missing.

Moore, who also performed under the name CC Quinn, was found dead in Cardiff city centre in the early hours yesterday, January 23.

Police said they were investigating a 'sudden and unexplained' death and asked for help from anyone with information.

The area was cordoned off on Tuesday and flowers were laid at the spot where Moore was found dead.

Members of the LGBT community in Cardiff are claiming on social media that he was the victim of a vicious hate crime but police have not given a cause of death.

Under his previous name ,Darren Sewell, he was convicted of four counts of rape on a boy under the age of 16 in Barry, South Wales, and sent to a Young Offenders' Institution for three years.

He was banned from having contact with children but in 2011 he was convicted of breaching the order by working as a gymnastics and dance tutor with children in Cardiff.

He was sentenced to a three-year sex offender's treatment programme, a 24-month supervision order, 300 hours of unpaid work, and a six-month curfew on an electronic tag.

Moore rose to national prominence in 2018 when he represented British Airways at a Pride Festival in Brighton. He was hired as a drag queen on the British Airways float that toured the seaside city.