🔗 Share this article Cause of Child Sex Offender Musician's Jail Demise Revealed Police Department The shamed rock star from Pontypridd was handed to 29 years in jail plus six years on extended licence Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison incident, an investigation has heard. Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being targeted 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 inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an related murder trial. 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 investigations proceeded. Coroner Findings Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified 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 guard. Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the neck". The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck. 'Extreme Wickedness' In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the attempted rape and abuse of a child under 13. He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature. Prosecutors 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 "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new levels of wickedness". Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to hospital with injuries 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 formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets. The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 reaching the top-40. They separated promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013. His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and disgust. Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a error, he was not guilty, he had to be. "The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't go back from that." The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.