Cause of Paedophile Singer's Prison Demise Disclosed

Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an inquest has heard.

Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a baby.

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.

Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded.

Coroner Findings

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the neck".

The coroner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an incision to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, he was innocent, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't go back from that."

The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.