Ian Watkins, the paedophile former lead singer of the band Lostprophets, died from a stab wound to the neck while serving his sentence at HMP Wakefield, an inquest has heard. Coroner Oliver Longstaff of Wakefield Coroner’s Court stated that Watkins, referred to by his full name Ian David Karslake Watkins, was pronounced dead on Saturday 11 October by a doctor and formally identified by a prison officer.
Paramedics were called to the prison after reports that Watkins had been stabbed in the neck. A post-mortem examination gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck. The coroner's investigation has been suspended pending the outcome of criminal proceedings, as two men have been charged with murder in connection with the incident.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, are on remand awaiting trial after appearing at Leeds Magistrates’ Court and Leeds Crown Court. Two further men, aged 23 and 39, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder but have since been returned to prison. The trial has been provisionally set for 5 May and is expected to last two to three weeks.
Watkins was jailed in 2013 for 29 years with an additional six years on licence after admitting to multiple sex offences, including attempting to rape an 11-month-old baby. He was initially arrested in September 2012 after a drugs warrant led to the seizure of computers and devices that revealed his crimes. During his time at HMP Wakefield, he was previously stabbed in 2023 and taken hostage by three inmates for six hours, suffering non-life-threatening injuries.
