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Cause of Child Sex Offender Musician's Jail Death Revealed

prison image Police Department
The shamed rock star from Pontypridd was handed to 29 years in prison plus six years on extended supervision

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

Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed 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 infant.

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

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

Coroner Findings

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to 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 identified by a prison officer.

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the throat".

The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an incision to the neck.

'Extreme Wickedness'

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 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not fatal.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.

Background of Ian Watkins?

performance image Media Archives
Watkins appearing in London in 2012

Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band formed 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 achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

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

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 finished. You can't return from that."

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

About the author

Jesse Morrison

Lena ist eine preisgekrönte Autorin und Schreibcoach mit über zehn Jahren Erfahrung in der Förderung literarischer Talente.

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