Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an investigation has heard.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the attempted rape of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two men 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 Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an wound to the throat.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to medical facility 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 required to enter responses.
Background of 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 across the world.
They released five studio albums, one of which reached 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 disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous group members spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
