Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the throat in an reported 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 attempted rape of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an related murder trial.
Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded.
Official Statement
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned 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 incision to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted 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 sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, 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 attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly 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 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 separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous group members spoke openly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, he was not guilty, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't go back from that."
The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
