Disgraced former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been killed in HMP Wakefield following an attack by another inmate on Saturday morning. West Yorkshire Police confirmed they were called to the prison after an assault on a prisoner, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences, including the rape and sexual assault of a child under 13. He was convicted in 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting 13 charges, including conspiracy to rape a child and making indecent images.
This was not the first time Watkins had been attacked in prison. In August 2023, he was stabbed and taken hostage by three inmates over a £900 drugs debt, requiring a six-hour operation by prison officers to secure his release.
HMP Wakefield, a high-security prison in West Yorkshire, has previously housed notorious criminals including Harold Shipman, Charles Bronson and Jeremy Bamber. The prison is known for holding some of the UK's most dangerous offenders.
Watkins was also handed an additional 10 months in prison after being found with a mobile phone while behind bars. His crimes were described by the sentencing judge as breaking "new ground" and plunging "into new depths of depravity."
