Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an alleged prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, 48, died on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year jail 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 related murder case.
Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as inquiries proceeded.
Coroner 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 attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "following 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 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 having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.
Legal authorities had described him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility 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 responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman 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 achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.
They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished 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 go back from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
