Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has learned.
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 crimes including the attempted rape of a baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an related murder case.
Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded.
Official Findings
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 jail by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.
'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 abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by fame, drugs, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new levels of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries 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 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 across the world.
They produced 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 reaching the popular charts.
They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke publicly about their shock and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't go back from that."
The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
