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Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison incident, an investigation has learned.

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

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

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

Coroner Findings

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison officer.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called 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 incision to the neck.

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted 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 sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.

Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, substances, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to hospital with injuries which were not fatal.

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

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed millions of albums across the world.

They produced five studio albums, one of which achieved 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 convicted in 2013.

His former group members spoke openly about their shock and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was innocent, 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, shortly thereafter.