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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has heard.

Watkins, 48, died on 11 October after being assaulted 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 related murder trial.

Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation 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 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 neck".

The examiner said a autopsy 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 confessed to the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 crimes, 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 shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged 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 accused with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.

Background of Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums across the world.

They produced five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK.

The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His previous group members spoke openly 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 innocent, he had to be.

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

The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.