Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison incident, an inquest has heard.
Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an related murder trial.
Two men have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Coroner Findings
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 prison by an on-call doctor and was formally recognized by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "after 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 neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
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 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by celebrity, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with wounds 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.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the popular charts.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a mistake, 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.
