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Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the throat in an alleged prison incident, an investigation has heard.

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

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

Two individuals have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.

Official Findings

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

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been attacked in the neck".

The examiner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.

'Extreme Wickedness'

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

He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.

Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man corrupted by fame, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not fatal.

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

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.

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

They released five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK.

The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His former group members spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.

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

"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't go back from that."

The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.