Reason of Paedophile Singer's Jail Death Disclosed

Police Department

Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an investigation has heard.

Watkins, forty-eight, 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 attempted rape of a infant.

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an related murder trial.

Two individuals have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.

Official Statement

Coroner 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 officially recognized 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 wound to the neck.

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the sexual assault and abuse 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 taking, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, drugs, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new depths of wickedness".

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not life-threatening.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

Media Archives

Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 found guilty in 2013.

His previous group members spoke openly about their shock and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I hoped 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 bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.