Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two individuals have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Official Statement
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums around the world.
They released 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 attaining the top-40.
They separated promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done 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 other members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
