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Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the neck in an reported prison incident, an inquest has learned.

Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted 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 postponed pending the completion of an associated murder trial.

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 suspicion of conspiracy to murder were returned to prison as investigations proceeded.

Coroner Findings

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was officially identified by a prison officer.

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were called to the jail "after a report he had been stabbed 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 admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of abuse involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature.

Legal authorities had portrayed him as a man corrupted by celebrity, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "descended into new levels of depravity".

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

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

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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

The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums around the world.

They produced five studio albums, one of which achieved number one in the UK.

The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.

They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His former group members spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished with him, I hoped 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 remaining bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.