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Police Department

Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison attack, an investigation has learned.

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

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an associated murder case.

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 suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned 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 short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison guard.

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

The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the reason 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 conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.

Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal.

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

Background of Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around 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 reaching the top-40.

They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His previous group members spoke publicly about their surprise 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 not guilty, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't go back from that."

The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.