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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has heard.

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

The inquest, 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, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded.

Official Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.

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

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.

'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 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new levels of wickedness".

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

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.

Background of Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer 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 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 convicted in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and disgust.

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 members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.