🔗 Share this article Cause of Child Sex Offender Singer's Prison Death Revealed Police Department The shamed rock star from Pontypridd was sentenced to 29 years in jail plus six years on extended licence Shamed Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison attack, an investigation has heard. Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being assaulted 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 inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was adjourned pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial. Two men 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 sent back to prison as inquiries proceeded. Official Findings Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the short hearing, had been declared deceased at the West Yorkshire prison by an on-call doctor and was officially recognized by a prison officer. Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the neck". The coroner said a post-mortem 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 confessed to the sexual assault and abuse of a child under 13. He admitted 13 crimes, including plotting to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving creating, making or possessing inappropriate images of children and one of having an extreme image involving a sex act on an creature. Legal authorities had described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and power who had committed crimes "beyond imagination." Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "unprecedented territory" and "plunged into new depths of depravity". Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that incident, 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. Background of Ian Watkins? Media Archives Watkins appearing in London in 2012 Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets. The band formed in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold 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 reaching the top-40. They disbanded promptly after Watkins was convicted in 2013. His former group members spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion. Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely finished with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be. "The first time, we knew the band was finished. You can't return from that." The other members and American singer Geoff Rickly formed a new band, No Devotion, soon after.