Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison attack, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an related murder trial.
Two men 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 returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Coroner Statement
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The coroner said a post-mortem 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 admitted the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme 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 "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to hospital 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 asked to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across the world.
They produced 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 immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.
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 done. You can't return from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
