Convicted paedophile Ian Watkins has died after being attacked with a knife in prison, sources have confirmed.
The former Lostprophets singer had been serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences at Wakefield prison in Yorkshire when he was reportedly assaulted on Saturday morning.
West Yorkshire Police said two men aged 25 and 43 have been arrested on suspicion of murder and are in police custody.
Welsh rock band Lostprophets had disbanded after Watkins was convicted in 2013 after pleading guilty to a string of sex offences - including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.
Watkins was convicted in December that year after pleading guilty to 13 charges.
He had admitted two attempted rapes, sexually assaulting a child under 13, aiding and abetting the sexual assault of a child under 13, conspiring to rape a child under 13 and conspiring to sexually assault another child under 13.
He also pleaded guilty to six counts of taking and possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornographic images.
The disgraced rock star from Pontypridd in Wales had previously been stabbed in prison two years earlier.
At the time, a source told the Mirror he had been taken hostage by three other inmates and Watkin’s injuries were reported not to be life-threatening.
Lostprophets had formed in the late 1990s from the ashes of Public Disturbance, a punk band which had featured Watkins playing the drums. He later gave up the drums to become the vocalist of the rock band.
British metal mags Kerrang! and Metal Hammer came on board immediately, heralding the band as one of Britain's first truly credible homegrown nu-metal acts, according to a BBC biography of the band.
Following a four-track demo, Lostprophets signed to London independent label Visible Noise in 1999 before recording their first album, The Fake Sound of Progress.
The album was quickly an underground success and the group quickly sold out gigs across the country.
It was not long before a full-scale bidding war took place between record companies to sign the band.
The band’s fan base grew and the group hit the road supporting acts such as Linkin Park, Run DMC and Pitchshifter.
The Welsh rock band wrote five albums between 2001 and 2012 and currently still have 281,200 monthly listeners on the streaming site Spotify.
Watkins was arrested following the execution of a drugs warrant at his home on September 21 2012 when a large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized.
Analysis of the equipment uncovered Watkins’ depraved behaviour.
As Watkins awaited trial, Lostprophets formally announced their split.
Writing on their Facebook page, they reportedly said: "To our fans: After nearly a year of coming to terms with our heartache, we finally feel ready to announce publicly what we have thought privately for some time.
“We can no longer continue making or performing music as Lostprophets.
“Your love and support over the past 15 years has been tremendous, and we'll be forever grateful for all you've given us. As we look forward to the next phase of our lives, we can only hope to be surrounded by people as devoted and inspiring as you guys have been.
"Jamie, Lee, Luke, Mike, and Stu"
News broke that Watkins had died in prison on Saturday evening as sources confirmed a knife attack had taken place in HMP Wakefield.
Police officers were called by staff at the Category A men’s prison following reports that a prisoner had been assaulted shortly after 9.30am on Saturday morning, West Yorkshire Police said.
The force said emergency services rushed to the scene and a man was pronounced dead a short time later.
Detectives are investigating what happened and inquiries remain ongoing at the scene.
A Prison Service spokesperson added: “We are aware of an incident at HMP Wakefield which took place this morning.
“We are unable to comment further while the police investigate.”
Watkins had previously described how his fellow inmates were “the worst of the worst” as he was found guilty of possessing a mobile phone in prison in 2019.
He was jailed for 10 months on top of the sentence he was serving for child sex offences that year.
Watkins had claimed two inmates forced him to hold on to the phone so they could contact women who sent him fan mail in order to use them as a “revenue stream”.
In his evidence, the defendant refused to name the men, but said: “You would not want to mess with them.”
He also said his fellow inmates were “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
Judge Rodney Jameson KC said he did not accept Watkins had the phone, which was in his possession for five days, because he had been threatened.
During the five-day trial at Leeds Crown Court, the jury heard Watkins was strip-searched in the jail in March 2018 and then produced a small phone from his body after he became concerned that he would not be able to see his mother who was visiting from Wales.
In 2014 Watkins was told he could not appeal against the length of his 29-year jail term.
Lawyers for Watkins claimed he should have his jail term cut because his last-minute guilty plea spared a jury from having to watch his home-made child pornography.
However the Court of Appeal, sitting in Cardiff, turned down his application for leave for an appeal, 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 included his attempted rape of a baby and a webcam chat in which he instructed a crazed 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.
