Police Department
Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison incident, an investigation has heard.
Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation 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 hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.
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 wound to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
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 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.
The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across the world.
They released 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 popular charts.
They separated immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His former bandmates 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 mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be.
"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that."
The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
