🔗 Share this article

Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison attack, 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 crimes including the attempted rape of a infant.

The hearing, 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 suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.

Coroner Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified 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 officially recognized by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the throat".

The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse 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 creating, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

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 established "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new levels of wickedness".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not fatal.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented 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 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 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 former group members spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done 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 finished. You can't go back from that."

The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.