Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison incident, an inquest has heard.
Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted 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 hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an related murder trial.
Two men have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.
Coroner Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified 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 officer.
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 cause of death as an incision to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
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 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 having an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by celebrity, substances, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
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 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 reaching the popular charts.
They separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former group members spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.
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 finished. You can't return from that."
The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
