A Glasgow-born Cambridge University cleric who was under investigation over allegations of indecency involving children in Scotland has been found dead at his home in England.

The Rev Ian Thompson, 50, was the Dean of Chapel at King’s College and the university’s director of studies in theology and religion. He died from heart failure brought on by asphyxiation at his house near Cambridge.

The theologian gave readings at the world-famous Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols – broadcast live from King’s College Chapel every Christmas Eve to millions of viewers around the
globe – after taking up the prestigious post in 2005.

Paramedics and police were called to Thompson’s home in Great Shelford on Thursday afternoon but efforts to revive him failed and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Details of his death began to emerge last night.

Cambridgeshire police said there were no suspicious circumstances and the case had been passed to
the coroner.

A family friend said the death was thought to be suicide.

A Strathclyde Police source confirmed that a report had been submitted to the procurator-fiscal in December 2007, in connection with "alleged historical indecencies" involving children in Ayrshire, some understood to date back to the 1970s.

"It was a very lengthy investigation because he has worked all over the country," said the source.

It is understood Thompson had been on leave for most of last year and some students said they believed he was ill.

His wife, Ann, said in a statement: "He was a wonderful, warm man who gave himself to everyone without
sparing himself.

"He was loved by young and old in all walks of life and that has been demonstrated by the hundreds of cards and messages that have been received."

The couple had no children.

Born in Glasgow and educated for the most part in Scotland, Thompson was a graduate of the University of Aberdeen and was a commanding officer in the Salvation Army for many years before being ordained in 1994.

During five years with the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney, where he was a youth chaplain, he led a young people’s exchange arrangement with a diocese in Umtata, South Africa, before moving south in 1999.

In 2005, he took up the post of Dean of Chapel at King’s College, having previously held the titles of Dean of Chapel at Selwyn College and chaplain of Selwyn and Newnham colleges.

At King’s he was in charge of discipline, and was known as a stickler for good order. Two years ago he bizarrely requested that students stop urinating into their washbasins, because it was blocking the pipes.

Speaking in December last year about the Christmas Eve carol service, Thompson said: "Once a year this is the nearest many in Britain get to religion. For the rest of the year, they may not believe in anything at all, yet they will tune in on Christmas Eve.

"Afterwards we get a huge mailbag about every aspect of the service, from the choice of music to the boy on the left not smiling; about mothers in their nineties who have listened to the choir all their lives."

He was also treasurer of Cambridge University Combined Boat Clubs and a coach at Chesterton Rowing Club.

Bill Key, president of the Cambridgeshire Rowing Association, said: "I find it difficult to put into words this sad and very sudden loss of one of the most respected members of the local rowing community.

A spokesman for Cambridge University said: "Ian very sadly died on Thursday afternoon. Ian was a very good friend of all of us."