Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an investigation has heard.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences including the attempted rape of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion 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 suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Official Findings
Medical Examiner 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 prison by an on-call doctor and was formally recognized by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the neck".
The examiner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an wound to the throat.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.
Legal authorities had described him as a man corrupted by celebrity, drugs, and influence 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 hospital with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the lead singer 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 attaining the top-40.
They separated promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former group members spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I hoped it was all a error, he was not guilty, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't go back from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
