Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died 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 infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an related murder case.
Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.
Official Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by celebrity, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, 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 asked to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that."
The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
