Reason of Paedophile Singer's Prison Demise Revealed

Police Department

Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned.

Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a baby.

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

Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.

Official Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned 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 neck.

'Extreme Wickedness'

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

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

Prosecutors 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 "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".

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

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

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums around the world.

They released five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK.

The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His former bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although 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 members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.