🔗 Share this article Cause of Paedophile Musician's Prison Demise Disclosed Police Department The disgraced rock star from Pontypridd was handed to 29 years in jail plus six years on extended supervision Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an investigation has heard. Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a baby. The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an related murder case. Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as inquiries proceeded. Official Statement Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard. Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the neck". The examiner 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 refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13. He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature. Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by fame, drugs, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination." Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "new ground" and "descended into new depths of depravity". Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not fatal. Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas. Who Was Ian Watkins? Media Archives Watkins appearing in London in 2012 Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the lead singer 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 achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts. They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013. His former group members 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 mistake, he was innocent, he had to be. "The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that." The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.