Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being attacked 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 completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a infant.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an related murder case.
Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations 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 pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.
Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the throat".
The examiner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an wound to the neck.
'Depths of Depravity'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault 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 taking, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".
Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to hospital with injuries 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.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
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 across the world.
They released 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 promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.
His former bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although 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 go back from that."
The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.
