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 serving a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an related murder case.
Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Official Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the throat".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 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 having an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described him as a man influenced by celebrity, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "descended into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 reaching the popular charts.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke openly about their shock and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though 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 return from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
