Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted 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 postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.
Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries continued.
Coroner Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the reason 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 offences, 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 having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, drugs, and power who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "descended into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around the world.
They produced five studio albums, one of which achieved 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 immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished 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 remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
