Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year prison 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 trial.
Two individuals have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Coroner Statement
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was formally recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond 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. After that attack, he was taken to hospital 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 required to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous artists - the frontman 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I hoped 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 formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
