Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned.
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 sexual assault of a baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Official Findings
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 officially identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing inappropriate 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, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "beyond 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 attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band started 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.
They separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a error, he was innocent, 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, shortly thereafter.
