🔗 Share this article

Police Department

Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison incident, an inquest has heard.

Watkins, 48, 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 charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.

Coroner 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 prison by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the neck".

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of having 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 perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new depths of depravity".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

Media Archives

Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable 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 top-40.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a error, he was not guilty, 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, soon after.