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Police Department

Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison incident, an inquest has learned.

Watkins, 48, died 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 infant.

The inquest, 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 suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.

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 declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.

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

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

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.

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

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

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not life-threatening.

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

Background of Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around the world.

They produced 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 popular charts.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His previous group members spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although 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 finished. You can't return from that."

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