Two men have been charged with murder after paedophile former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died in prison.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were charged with murder after Watkins, 48, was pronounced dead after being seriously assaulted at HMP Wakefield on Saturday morning.
The pair appeared at Leeds Magistrates Court on Monday morning, West Yorkshire Police said.
The men were brought out separately and each only spoke to confirm their names and dates of birth during the brief hearing. Both were remanded in custody until they are due to appear at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday.
Emergency services were called to the prison in West Yorkshire on Saturday morning after reports Watkins was attacked with a knife. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Watkins had been serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences.
Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 charges in 2013, including trying to rape a baby, sexually touching a one-year-old, encouraging a fan to abuse her child and making indecent images of children.
At the time of his sentencing, Judge John Royce described Watkins as a manipulative and dangerous sexual predator who had abused his fame to help satisfy his “insatiable lust”.
The prison went into lockdown in the immediate aftermath of Watkins’ killing, it was reported.
Watkins had previously been stabbed in an incident at the same prison in 2023, suffering non-life-threatening injuries after he was reportedly taken hostage by three other inmates for six hours.
He appeared back in court in 2019 for possessing a phone behind bars, and described his fellow inmates as “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
The prison, which has been in use since 1594, is a high-security facility with an ultra-secure unit for the country’s most dangerous prisoners, and is known for holding some of the UK’s most notorious murderers and sexual offenders. Previous prisoners include Harold Shipman, Charles Bronson, and Ian Huntley – though the latter is now imprisoned in HMP Frankland, another high-security prison.
This year, an inspection of HMP Wakefield revealed a facility grappling with “ageing and deteriorating infrastructure” and a shifting prisoner demographic, which the report said “challenged its ability to deliver safe, decent and purposeful outcomes”.
The July report also found that “violence had increased markedly since our last inspection, with a 62 per cent rise in incidents and a 72 per cent increase in serious assaults”.
It added: “Many prisoners told us they felt unsafe, particularly older men convicted of sexual offences who increasingly shared the prison with a growing cohort of younger prisoners.”
In 2014, Watkins was told he could not appeal against the length of his 29-year jail term.
Watkins’ lawyers suggested he should have his jail term cut because his last-minute guilty plea spared a jury from having to watch his homemade abuse imagery.
However, the Court of Appeal turned down his application, with presiding judge Lord Justice Pitchford saying: “These were offences against infant children of such shocking depravity that a very lengthy sentence of imprisonment was demanded.
“It is not demonstrated the total sentence of 29 years together with the extended licence period was arguably manifestly excessive. Accordingly, the application in his case is refused.”
Among the disturbing videos due to be shown at his trial were his attempted rape of a baby and a webcam chat in which he instructed a fan to abuse her child.
Watkins was given 14- and 15-year consecutive prison terms for engaging in sexual activity with a child and the attempted rape of an 11-month-old baby.
He was also convicted of 11 other offences, with those sentences running alongside his 29-year term.
