Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the throat in an alleged prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an related murder case.
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 inquiries proceeded.
Official Findings
Medical Examiner 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 on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and power who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.
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 once one of Wales' most famous artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums across the world.
They released five studio albums, one of which achieved 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 disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished 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 other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
