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Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the throat in an alleged prison incident, an inquest has heard.

Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year jail sentence for child sex crimes including the sexual assault of a infant.

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the completion of an related murder case.

Two individuals have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on allegation of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations continued.

Official Findings

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer.

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

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

'Depths of Depravity'

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

He admitted 13 offences, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving creating, producing or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an animal.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following 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 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 achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the top-40.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His former bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a error, 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 bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.