Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has heard.
Watkins, 48, died 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 sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two individuals have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.
Coroner Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics 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 wound to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, 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 extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described him as a man corrupted by celebrity, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new levels of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to medical facility with wounds 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.
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 sold millions of albums around the world.
They released 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 promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly about their shock 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 done. You can't return from that."
The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
