Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has heard.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.
Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded.
Official Statement
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified 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 formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once 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 across the world.
They produced 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 popular charts.
They separated promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a error, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't go back from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
