Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has learned.
Watkins, 48, died 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 hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.
Two men have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded.
Official Statement
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the throat".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including plotting 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 extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Legal authorities had described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - 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 reached number one in the UK.
The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40.
They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished 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 go back from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
