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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an investigation has learned.

Watkins, forty-eight, died 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 attempted rape of a infant.

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.

Two individuals 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 plot to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded.

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 guard.

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".

The examiner said a autopsy 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 admitted the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13.

He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and power who had committed 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. After that attack, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not life-threatening.

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

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across the world.

They released five studio albums, one of which achieved 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 former bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished 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.