Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, 48, died on 11 October after being assaulted 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 inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.
Official Findings
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially identified 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 autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the attempted rape 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 creating, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "plunged into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums across 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 reaching the top-40.
They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."
The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
