Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison incident, an inquest has heard.
Watkins, 48, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded.
Official Statement
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by fame, drugs, and influence 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 attacked 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, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums around the world.
They produced 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 immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous group members spoke publicly about their shock 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 finished. You can't return from that."
The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
