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Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison incident, an inquest has learned.

Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving a 29-year prison sentence for child sex offences including the attempted rape of a infant.

The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder case.

Two individuals have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.

Coroner Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an incision to the throat.

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

Legal authorities had described him as a man corrupted by celebrity, substances, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new levels of depravity".

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not life-threatening.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week charged with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums across the world.

They produced five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.

The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the popular charts.

They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His former bandmates spoke openly about their shock and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."

The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.