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Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins passed away after being stabbed in the neck in an alleged prison attack, an inquest has learned.

Watkins, 48, succumbed on 11 October after being assaulted at HMP Wakefield, where he had been completing a 29-year prison sentence for child sex crimes including the attempted rape of a infant.

The inquest, opened earlier at Wakefield Coroner's Court, was postponed pending the conclusion of an associated murder trial.

Two men have been accused with murder in relation to Watkins' death while two other men, aged 23 and 39, detained earlier this week on suspicion of conspiracy to murder were sent back to prison as inquiries continued.

Official Findings

Medical Examiner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins, who was identified by his full name of Ian David Karslake Watkins during the brief hearing, had been pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail by an attending doctor and was formally recognized by a prison officer.

Mr Longstaff said paramedics were called to the jail "following a report he had been stabbed in the throat".

The coroner said a autopsy report gave the cause of death as an incision to the throat.

'Depths of Depravity'

In 2013 at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins refuted rape but confessed to the sexual assault and sexual assault of a child under 13.

He admitted 13 crimes, including conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or holding inappropriate images of children and one of possessing an extreme image involving a sex act on an animal.

Prosecutors had portrayed him as a man influenced by celebrity, drugs, and influence who had committed crimes "beyond imagination."

Mr Justice Royce said the case had established "new ground" and "descended into new levels of depravity".

Watkins was also attacked in prison in 2023. After that attack, he was taken to medical facility with wounds which were not life-threatening.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were presented in court last week accused with his murder, but were not required to enter responses.

Who Was Ian Watkins?

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Watkins was once one of Wales' most famous artists - the lead singer of the rock band Lostprophets.

The band started in Pontypridd in 1997, and sold millions of albums across the world.

They produced five studio albums, one of which reached number one in the UK.

The group also had some achievement in the US, with their second and third albums reaching the popular charts.

They separated promptly after Watkins was found guilty in 2013.

His former bandmates spoke publicly about their shock and revulsion.

Bassist Stuart Richardson said in 2014: "Although I was completely done with him, I wished it was all a mistake, he was not guilty, he had to be.

"The first time, we knew the band was done. You can't return from that."

The other bandmates and American singer Geoff Rickly created a new band, No Devotion, soon after.