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Police Department

Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has learned.

Watkins, 48, 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 attempted rape of a infant.

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

Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.

Official Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat".

The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault 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, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.

Legal authorities had described him as a man corrupted by celebrity, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of depravity".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility 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?

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Watkins was once 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 released five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.

The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40.

They disbanded promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His former group members spoke openly about their shock and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done with him, I hoped 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 remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.