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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an inquest has learned.

Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a baby.

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

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

Official Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was formally recognized 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 post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape 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, making or holding indecent images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by fame, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "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, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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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 reaching the top-40.

They separated promptly 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 wished it was all a mistake, he was innocent, 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 formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.