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Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being attacked in the throat in an reported prison incident, an inquest has heard.

Watkins, forty-eight, died on 11 October after being targeted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes 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 individuals 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 inquiries continued.

Coroner Statement

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire prison by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison guard.

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were summoned to the jail "following a report he had been attacked in the neck".

The examiner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an wound to the neck.

'Extreme Wickedness'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins denied rape but admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault 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, making or holding indecent images of children and one of having an shocking image involving a sex act on an creature.

Prosecutors had described him as a man influenced by fame, drugs, and power who had perpetrated crimes "exceeding imagination."

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

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

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

Background of Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most recognisable artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and distributed 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 separated immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.

His previous bandmates spoke openly about their surprise and disgust.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Even though I was completely finished 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.