Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an inquest has heard.
Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes 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 case.
Two men 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 conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries continued.
Coroner Findings
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending 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 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 denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by celebrity, substances, and power who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new levels of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly 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 done. You can't return from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
