Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died 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 sexual assault of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion 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 allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as inquiries proceeded.
Official 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 pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.
Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.
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 sold millions of albums around the world.
They released 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 top-40.
They separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous group members spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done 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.
