Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, 48, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing 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 postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder case.
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 plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded.
Official Statement
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including plotting 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 extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and power who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across the world.
They produced five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.
The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I wished 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 return from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
