Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder case.
Two individuals have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.
Coroner Statement
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 jail by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The examiner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that incident, 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 asked 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 started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around the world.
They released five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK.
The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I hoped it was all a error, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't go back from that."
The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
