Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison incident, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences 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 charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Coroner Findings
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 recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after 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 neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described 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 hospital 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 responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once 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 promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I hoped 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 go back from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
