Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an inquest 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 hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion 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 conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries continued.
Official Statement
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.
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 throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted 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 creating, making or possessing indecent 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 fame, drugs, and power who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new levels 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 responses.
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 distributed millions of albums around the world.
They produced five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.
The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, 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 members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
