🔗 Share this article Reason of Child Sex Offender Musician's Jail Death Revealed Police Department The shamed rock star from Pontypridd was handed to 29 years in jail plus six years on extended licence Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked 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 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 trial. Two men have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back 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 hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard. Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the throat". The examiner 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 refuted rape but admitted the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13. He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature. Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination." Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new levels of depravity". Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following that attack, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not fatal. 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? Media Archives Watkins appearing in London in 2012 Watkins was formerly one of Wales' most famous musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets. The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40. They separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013. His previous bandmates spoke publicly about their surprise and disgust. 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 done. You can't go back from that." The remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.