Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has learned.
Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a baby.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an related murder case.
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 allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.
Official Statement
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 declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that attack, 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 accused with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman 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 achieved number one in the UK.
The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke openly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I wished 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 other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
