One of the men accused of murdering paedophile Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins has refused to leave his prison cell to attend a crucial court hearing. Rico 'Rashid' Gedel, aged 25, failed to appear via arranged video-link at Leeds Crown Court today, where he was due to enter a plea to the murder charge.
Prisoner's Defiance Disrupts Legal Proceedings
The hearing was informed that Gedel 'had just refused' to leave his cell at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire, where he is currently being held in custody. A prison officer told the court that staff had attempted to persuade him to attend on multiple occasions without success. The officer stated: 'We've tried to coach him into attending on two more occasions but he's just refused. He hasn't really given an example or a reason as to why.'
Background to the Murder Case
Depraved rock singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire on October 11 last year. The Category-A prison was where Watkins was serving nearly three decades for a catalogue of horrific child sex offences. The 48-year-old former musician had been convicted in 2013 and received consecutive 14-year and 15-year jail terms for engaging in sexual activity with a child and the attempted rape of an 11-month-old baby.
Co-accused Enters Not Guilty Plea
Gedel's co-accused, 43-year-old Samuel Dodsworth, pleaded not guilty to Watkins's murder in November. Dodsworth appeared in court by video-link from a segregation unit at HMP Wakefield, where he was seen wearing a grey t-shirt, hunched forward with his arms folded throughout the proceedings. A provisional two-week trial has been scheduled for May and will be heard by a High Court judge.
Watkins's Criminal History and Previous Prison Incidents
Watkins, originally from Pontypridd in South Wales, was convicted of 11 other offences at Cardiff Crown Court alongside his main charges. His vile crimes came to light when police officers seized a large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices during a drugs warrant execution at his home in September 2012. In 2019, he received an additional 10-month sentence after being found guilty of possessing a mobile phone in prison.
Remarkably, Watkins had survived a previous knife attack in August 2023 when he was taken hostage by three inmates at HMP Wakefield and stabbed in the neck. At the time of his death, he was believed to have been living on a 'general' wing alongside some of Wakefield's most dangerous inmates, rather than in a unit specifically dedicated to sex offenders.
Next Steps in the Legal Process
Gedel is now scheduled to be produced in person at Leeds Crown Court next week, where he will be expected to enter a formal plea to the murder charge. The refusal to attend today's hearing represents a significant disruption to the legal process surrounding this high-profile prison murder case that has attracted considerable public attention due to Watkins's notoriety and the circumstances of his death while serving a lengthy sentence for abhorrent child sex crimes.
