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Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison attack, an investigation has heard.

Watkins, forty-eight, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been serving 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 postponed pending the conclusion of an related 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 allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.

Coroner Statement

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, 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 emergency services were called to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat".

The examiner 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 abuse 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, making or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding 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 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 accused with his murder, but were not asked to enter responses.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across 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 attaining the top-40.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though 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 done. You can't go back from that."

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