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Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest 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 offences including the attempted rape of a infant.

The hearing, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an related murder trial.

Two men have been charged with murder in connection to Watkins' death while two other suspects, aged 23 and 39, arrested earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as investigations proceeded.

Coroner Statement

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

Mr Longstaff said emergency services were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat".

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the reason of death as an incision to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

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

He pleaded guilty to 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, producing or holding indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man corrupted by celebrity, drugs, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "beyond imagination."

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

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, he was taken to hospital with wounds which were not fatal.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, appeared in court last week charged 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 famous musicians - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.

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

They produced 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 separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His previous group members spoke publicly 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 innocent, he had to be.

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

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