Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has heard.
Watkins, 48, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a infant.
The inquest, 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 connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Coroner Findings
Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the throat".
The coroner 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 confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing inappropriate 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 broken "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new levels of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented 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 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 achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the top-40.
They separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though 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 done. You can't return from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
