Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned.
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 attempted rape of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an related murder case.
Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Official Findings
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 formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 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 possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new levels of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared 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 recognisable artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums around the world.
They produced 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 reaching the popular charts.
They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous group members spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I hoped it was all a error, 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 bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
