Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged 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 crimes including the sexual assault of a infant.
The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.
Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.
Coroner Findings
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing indecent 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 fame, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Background of Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, he was innocent, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that."
The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
