Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an alleged prison attack, 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 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 conclusion of an related murder trial.
Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries proceeded.
Coroner Statement
Coroner 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 prison by an attending doctor and was officially recognized 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 cause of death as an incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "descended into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital with wounds 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 asked to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums across 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 immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done 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 go back from that."
The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
