Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, 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 sexual assault of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two individuals have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.
Coroner Statement
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, 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 emergency services were called to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an wound to the neck.
'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 conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new levels of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed 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 top-40.
They separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former group members spoke openly about their shock and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished 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 finished. You can't return from that."
The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
