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Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the throat in an reported prison attack, an investigation has learned.

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

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 relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were sent back to prison as investigations continued.

Coroner Statement

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was officially recognized by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed in the neck".

The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 offences, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.

Prosecutors had described him as a man corrupted by fame, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "plunged into new depths of wickedness".

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to medical facility with injuries which were not life-threatening.

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

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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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 released 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 popular charts.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke publicly 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 error, he was innocent, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."

The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.