Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an related murder trial.
Two men have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Coroner Statement
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The examiner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an wound to the throat.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described him as a man influenced by celebrity, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around the world.
They produced five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK.
The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous group members spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I hoped it was all a error, he was not guilty, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't go back from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
