Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an investigation has heard.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder case.
Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Coroner Findings
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the reason 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 sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing 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 celebrity, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital 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 formerly one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a error, 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 formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
