Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison attack, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed 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 baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder case.
Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded.
Official 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 declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the lead singer 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 achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the popular charts.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I hoped 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.
