Cause of Child Sex Offender Musician's Prison Demise Disclosed

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Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an inquest has heard.

Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the attempted rape of a infant.

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an related murder case.

Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.

Official Findings

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was formally recognized by a prison officer.

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility 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 responses.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - 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 reached number one in the UK.

The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the popular charts.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His previous group members spoke openly about their shock and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done 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 other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.