Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed 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 completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an related murder trial.
Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Coroner Statement
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.
Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous musicians - the lead singer 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 reached number one in the UK.
The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.
They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although 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 other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
