Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.
Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.
Official Findings
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around the world.
They released five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.
The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the popular charts.
They disbanded promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."
The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
