Two more men have been arrested after former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died in an alleged prison attack earlier this month.
Two inmates from HMP Wakefield, aged 23 and 39, have been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder and will be interviewed on Tuesday, according to West Yorkshire Police. They will then be bailed and returned to prison while inquiries continue.
Emergency services were called to the prison on the morning of Saturday 11 October after reports that Watkins was attacked with a knife. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Detective chief inspector James Entwistle said: “Extensive enquiries remain ongoing in relation to the murder of Ian Watkins and these arrests form part of that.
“Ian Watkins’s family are being updated as the investigation progresses. However, we do not anticipate any immediate developments at this stage.”
Two other inmates, Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were charged with his murder last week and appeared in Leeds Magistrates’ Court and then Leeds Crown Court.
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.
Watkins was jailed for 29 years in 2013 with a further six years on licence after admitting a number of sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.
He was arrested following the execution of a drugs warrant at his Pontypridd home in September 2012, when a large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized.
Analysis of the equipment uncovered Watkins’s depraved behaviour.
He was told he could not appeal against the length of his jail term in 2014 due to the “shocking depravity” of his crimes.
Watkins was held hostage by three other inmates in 2023 and taken to hospital with injuries that were non-life-threatening.
His ex-girlfriend, Joanne Mjadzelics, who was instrumental in exposing the singer’s crimes, told the Daily Mail: “This is a big shock, but I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. I was always waiting for this phone call.
“He was walking around with a target on his back from the first day he entered the prison.
“I have always been scared of him getting out and tracking me down or something, so this is a relief.”
She added that his death may now allow “a new part of her life” to begin.
Watkins has become one of the most high-profile inmates to be killed inside a prison.
