Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked 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 jail 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 conclusion of an related murder case.
Two men have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Official Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape 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 possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by celebrity, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".
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.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer 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 achieved 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 promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous group members spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
