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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an investigation has learned.

Watkins, forty-eight, died 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 sexual assault of a baby.

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an related murder case.

Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation 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 inquiries continued.

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 declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the throat".

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding 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 fame, drugs, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility 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.

Background of Ian Watkins?

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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 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 attaining the popular charts.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, he was innocent, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that."

The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.