🔗 Share this article Reason of Child Sex Offender Singer's Jail Demise Revealed Police Department The shamed rock star from Pontypridd was sentenced to 29 years in jail plus six years on extended licence Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has heard. Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a baby. The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder case. Two men have been accused with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of plot to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded. Coroner Findings Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer. Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the throat". The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck. 'Depths of Depravity' In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13. He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal. Legal authorities had described him as a man influenced by fame, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "beyond imagination." Mr Justice Royce said the case had broken "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness". Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that incident, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not fatal. Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter pleas. Background of Ian Watkins? Media Archives Watkins performing in London in 2012 Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets. The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across the world. They produced five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK. The group also had some success in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40. They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013. His former bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion. Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I hoped 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 members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.