🔗 Share this article Reason of Paedophile Singer's Prison Death Disclosed Police Department The shamed rock star from Pontypridd was sentenced to 29 years in prison plus six years on extended licence Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison attack, an inquest has learned. 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 sexual assault of a baby. The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the completion of an related murder trial. Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded. Official Findings 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 jail by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard. Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat". The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat. 'Extreme Wickedness' In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the attempted rape and abuse 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, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature. Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination." Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness". Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not fatal. Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not required to enter pleas. Who Was Ian Watkins? Media Archives Watkins performing in London in 2012 Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets. The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums around the world. They released five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK. The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts. They disbanded immediately 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 finished with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be. "The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that." The remaining members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.