Police Department
Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison incident, an inquest 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 offences including the sexual assault of a baby.
The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an associated murder case.
Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries continued.
Coroner Findings
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".
The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.
'Extreme Wickedness'
In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He admitted 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."
Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new depths of depravity".
Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not life-threatening.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.
Who Was Ian Watkins?
Media Archives
Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman 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 attaining the popular charts.
They separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.
His previous group members spoke openly about their shock and disgust.
Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I wished 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 remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.
