Paedophile former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins died from a stab wound to the neck in prison, an inquest has heard.
Coroner Oliver Longstaff, of Wakefield Coroner’s Court, said Watkins, referred to by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, was pronounced dead at HMP Wakefield on Saturday 11 October by an attending doctor, and was formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the prison, where Watkins was a serving prisoner, “following a report he had been stabbed in the neck”. The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck.
The coroner’s investigation has been suspended “pending the outcome of the criminal justice process” as two men were charged with murder in relation to the incident. Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, are on remand awaiting trial after they appeared in Leeds Magistrates’ Court and then Leeds Crown Court.
Mr Longstaff said: “Whether an inquest into the death requires to be resumed following the conclusion of that criminal process is a matter of complete speculation and remains to be seen.”
Emergency services were called to the prison on the Saturday morning after reports that Watkins was attacked with a knife. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Two further men, aged 23 and 39, were arrested on Tuesday on suspicion of conspiracy to murder. They were placed in police custody to be interviewed before returning to prison.
Dodsworth appeared via video link from HMP Wakefield, but Gedel, referred to as Rico Gedel in court, had refused to attend remotely as he wanted to appear in person. The pair were not asked to enter pleas.
Judge Guy Kearl, the recorder of Leeds, set a provisional date of 5 May for the trial, which is expected to take two to three weeks.
Senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector James Entwistle of West Yorkshire Police said: “Extensive enquiries remain ongoing in relation to the murder of Ian Watkins and these arrests form part of that. Ian Watkins’ family are being updated as the investigation progresses. However, we do not anticipate any immediate developments at this stage.”
Watkins was jailed in 2013 for 29 years with a further six years on licence after he admitted to a number of sex offences, including attempting to rape a fan’s 11 month old baby. He was initially arrested in September 2012 at his home in Pontypridd following the execution of a drugs warrant, during which a number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized.
His crimes were uncovered following analysis of the equipment.
During his time in HMP Wakefield, he was stabbed in 2023, after he was reportedly taken hostage by three other inmates for six hours; he suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
In 2019, he appeared back in court for possessing a phone behind bars, and described his fellow inmates as “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
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