Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an inquest has heard.
Watkins, 48, died 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 attempted rape of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an related murder trial.
Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned 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 brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the throat".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new levels of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital with injuries 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 responses.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band started 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They disbanded promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke openly 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 not guilty, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
