🔗 Share this article Cause of Child Sex Offender Musician's Jail Death Disclosed Police Department The shamed rock star from Pontypridd was handed to 29 years in jail plus six years on extended licence Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison attack, an investigation has learned. Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a baby. The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial. Two individuals have been accused with murder in connection 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 investigations proceeded. Official Statement Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard. Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat". The examiner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an wound to the neck. 'Depths of Depravity' In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13. He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature. Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and influence who had committed 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 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 pleas. Background of Ian Watkins? Media Archives Watkins appearing in London in 2012 Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets. The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums around the world. They released 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 separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013. His former group members spoke openly about their surprise and disgust. Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be. "The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that." The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.