Two more men have been arrested in connection with the death of the former Lostprophets frontman, Ian Watkins, at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire police said.
Watkins, 48, who was serving a 29-year sentence with a further six years to be served on licence after admitting a string of offences including the attempted rape of a baby, died after being assaulted in the high-security jail on 11 October.
Rashid Gedel, 25, who was referred to as Rico Gedel in court, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, had been charged with the murder and were due to appear before Leeds magistrates on Tuesday morning.
Police confirmed that “two more men from the prison had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder”. The force said the suspects, aged 23 and 39, would be interviewed during the day before being bailed and returned to prison while inquiries continued.
DCI James Entwistle of the homicide and major inquiry team said: “Extensive inquiries 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 pronounced dead after what police described as a “serious assault” inside the prison. The Ministry of Justice said in a statement at the time that it was aware of an incident at HMP Wakefield and that it would support the police investigation.
The disgraced singer had previously been attacked at the same prison in August 2023, when he was reportedly taken hostage and stabbed by fellow inmates before being freed by officers six hours later. He sustained non-life-threatening injuries.
Watkins was sentenced at Cardiff crown court in 2013 after admitting a string of child sexual abuse offences. At the time, police described him as a “committed, organised paedophile”.
The judge sentencing him described his crimes as “plumbing new depths of depravity”. In 2019, he appeared in court again after being found with a mobile phone in his cell. He told magistrates that he was imprisoned among “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
Lostprophets were a Welsh rock band formed in 1997, known for their success in the 2000s, before disbanding in 2013 after Watkins’ arrest and conviction.
