Two men have denied murdering Ian Watkins, the former frontman of the band Lostprophets, who was killed while serving a 29-year sentence for horrific child sex offences at HMP Wakefield.
Court Hearing and Defendant Details
Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared via video link from HMP Wakefield at Leeds Crown Court, where he formally pleaded not guilty to murder and also denied possessing a makeshift knife inside the prison. His co-accused, Rashid 'Rico' Gedel, 25, did not appear after refusing to leave his cell at HMP Long Lartin in Worcestershire.
Gedel's lawyer, Imran Khan, stated his client had chosen not to appear via video link because he wanted to attend court in person. No plea was entered on Gedel's behalf. Judge Guy Kearl KC, the Recorder of Leeds, was informed of the situation by a prison officer.
Both defendants were remanded in custody and are scheduled to appear for a case management hearing on February 2. A trial date has been set for May 5, 2026, and it is expected to last up to four weeks.
The Fatal Incident and Watkins's Notorious Past
Emergency services rushed to the West Yorkshire prison on October 11, but the 48-year-old disgraced rock star was pronounced dead at the scene.
Watkins was serving a 29-year sentence imposed in 2013 after he admitted to a catalogue of depraved crimes. His offences included the attempted rape of a fan's 11-month-old baby and engaging in sexual activity with a child. The investigation began following a drugs warrant at his Pontypridd home on September 21, 2012.
He was convicted of 11 other offences at Cardiff Crown Court, with the sentences running concurrently. Two of his co-defendants, known as Mother A and Mother B, were also incarcerated for 14 and 17 years respectively for their roles in the abuse.
A History of Prison Trouble and Vast Evidence
This was not the first time Watkins had been attacked in prison, having survived a previous incident in 2023. His time behind bars was also marred by further offending; in 2019, he was given an additional 10 months for possessing a mobile phone.
During his original trial, the scale of his depravity was laid bare. The court heard how Watkins had amassed a collection of child abuse material amounting to 27 terabytes of data, a volume so vast it dwarfed the data storage capacity of the South Wales Police force at the time. Experts from GCHQ were eventually brought in to crack the encryption on his computer files.
Watkins had initially denied all claims against him before switching his plea to guilty at the last moment. His defence argued in mitigation that his use of crack cocaine and crystal meth meant he could not remember his 'prolific abuse'.
