Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the death of former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins in HMP Wakefield on Saturday. Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.
West Yorkshire Police said officers were called to the prison at 9:39am following reports of a serious assault on a prisoner. Watkins was found with serious injuries and pronounced dead at the scene, despite medical attention. A 25-year-old and a 43-year-old man have been arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in custody.
Sources confirmed to the PA news agency that Watkins was attacked with a knife by another inmate. The Prison Service said it could not comment while police investigate. Watkins had previously been stabbed in the same prison in 2023, in an incident where he was reportedly taken hostage for six hours.
Watkins was jailed in 2013 after admitting a string of sex offences. The judge described his crimes as having “plumbed new depths of depravity”. In 2019, while serving his sentence, he was caught with a mobile phone and told a court he was locked up with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
