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Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has learned.

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

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

Two individuals have been charged with murder in relation 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 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 short proceeding, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.

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

The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but admitted the attempted rape and abuse 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 described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

Watkins was also stabbed 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, 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 formerly one of Wales' most famous musicians - the frontman of the rock band Lostprophets.

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

They released 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 reaching the top-40.

They disbanded immediately after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His former 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 mistake, he was innocent, 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 created a new band, No Devotion, shortly thereafter.