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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned.

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 baby.

The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.

Two individuals 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 sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded.

Official Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending 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 attacked in the throat".

The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.

'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 conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, making or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.

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 established "new ground" and "descended into new depths of wickedness".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with injuries 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 pleas.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was formerly 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 reached 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 promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a error, he was not guilty, he had to be.

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

The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.