Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison incident, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, 48, succumbed 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 sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an related murder trial.
Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Official Statement
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
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 refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, drugs, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer 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 achieved 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 found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates 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 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 formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
