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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an investigation 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 crimes including the sexual assault of a baby.

The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned 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 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 prison by an attending 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 examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound 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 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or holding indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.

Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man corrupted by celebrity, drugs, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital 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 pleas.

Background of Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the lead singer 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 reaching the top-40.

They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His former bandmates spoke openly about their shock and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished 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 remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.