Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison incident, an investigation has heard.
Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year jail sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.
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 brief 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 called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced 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 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 charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed 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 disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I hoped 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 other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
