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Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an alleged prison incident, 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 jail sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a baby.

The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder case.

Two men have been charged with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of plot to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.

Coroner Findings

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

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

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

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

He pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and power who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "descended into new depths of depravity".

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not life-threatening.

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

Background of Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - 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 attaining the popular charts.

They separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke openly about their shock and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was innocent, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't go back from that."

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