Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged 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 offences including the sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, 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 relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.
Coroner Statement
Coroner 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 recognized by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the throat".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new levels of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed 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 separated promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke openly about their shock and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done 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 done. You can't go back from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
