🔗 Share this article Cause of Child Sex Offender Singer's Prison Death Disclosed Police Department The disgraced rock star from Pontypridd was handed to 29 years in jail plus six years on extended licence 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 completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex offences including the sexual assault of a infant. The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an related murder trial. Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as inquiries proceeded. Coroner Statement Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard. Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the throat". The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the reason of death as an wound to the throat. 'Extreme Wickedness' In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13. He admitted 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal. Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by celebrity, drugs, and influence who had perpetrated 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 incident, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not life-threatening. Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter responses. Background of Ian Watkins? Media Archives Watkins appearing in London in 2012 Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets. The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums around 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 found guilty in 2013. His former group members spoke publicly about their surprise and revulsion. Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a error, he was not guilty, he had to be. "The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that." The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.