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Shamed Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an reported prison incident, an investigation has heard.

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

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

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

Coroner Findings

Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short proceeding, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire jail by an on-call doctor and was officially identified by a prison guard.

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

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause 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 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 creating, producing or holding 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 corrupted by celebrity, substances, and influence who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also stabbed in prison in 2023. Following 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 required to enter responses.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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

The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 success in the US, with their second and third albums attaining the popular charts.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I hoped it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."

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