Cause of Child Sex Offender Musician's Jail Death Disclosed

Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison incident, an inquest has heard.

Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby.

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 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 continued.

Coroner Statement

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the throat".

The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.

'Extreme Wickedness'

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 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding 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 influenced by fame, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries 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 responses.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around 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 reaching the top-40.

They separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His former bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."

The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.