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Police Department

Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has heard.

Watkins, 48, 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 attempted rape of a infant.

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

Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot 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 short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail 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 stabbed in the neck".

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

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the attempted rape 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 taking, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

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

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

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

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 formerly one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

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

They produced five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.

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

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His former bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, he was innocent, he had to be.

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

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