Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted 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 postponed pending the completion of an related murder trial.
Two individuals 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 investigations proceeded.
Coroner Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The examiner 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 denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding 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 corrupted by celebrity, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed 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 attaining the popular charts.
They separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
