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Police Department

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

Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed 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 attempted rape of a infant.

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

Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.

Official Statement

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard.

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

The coroner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an incision to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

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

He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, 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 extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "descended into new depths of depravity".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital 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 pleas.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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

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

They produced 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 found guilty 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 not guilty, he had to be.

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

The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.