Disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been stabbed to death while he was serving a 29-year prison sentence at HMP Wakefield – one of the most notorious jails in Britain
The disgraced former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been stabbed to death in prison after a reported knife attack by an inmate.
Watkins had been locked up for decades after admitting a string of heinous child abuse crimes, and was being held in HMP Wakefield – one of the UK’s most notorious jails. He is now said to have had his throat slashed after inmates at Wakefield Prison were unlocked from their cells.
A Prison Service spokesperson said: “We are aware of an incident at HMP Wakefield which took place this morning. We are unable to comment further while the police investigate.”
A statement from West Yorkshire Police added: “At 9.39am this morning (Saturday), police were called by staff at HMP Wakefield reporting an assault on a prisoner.
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“Emergency services attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. Detectives from the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team are investigating and inquiries remain ongoing at the scene.”
But who is Ian Watkins? And what horrific crimes saw him serving his 29-year sentence?
Horrific crimes and convictions
Watkins was previously in the Welsh rock band Lostprophets, who were formed in 1997 by singer and lyricist Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze, reports Manchester Evening News. The group, who sold millions of records across the globe and secured four top 10 UK albums, were founded after their former band Fleshbind broke up.
The former rock press poster boy stunned the music industry after admitting to the attempted rape of a baby and 10 other sexual offences, having targeted fans, including two who offered up their babies to be abused by their idol.
Watkins had consistently maintained his innocence from his 2012 arrest right up to his trial the following year, where he eventually confessed to his crimes. A court branded Watkins a “determined and committed paedophile”.
The hearing was told he schemed to abuse two babies alongside their own mothers through text and online messages, expressing his intention to “cross the line” and his plan to drug one young victim by breathing crystal meth smoke into the child’s face. The judge was presented with disturbing details of a vile 17-minute recording filmed in a London hotel room showing Watkins performing a sexual act on a child.
In 2013, the Welsh performer pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to 13 child sex offences. He also admitted to the rape and sexual assault of a child who was under the age of 13.
Watkins also admitted conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.
During sentencing, Mr Justice Royce declared the case broke ‘new ground’ and ‘plunged into new depths of depravity’. He stated Watkins had wielded a ‘corrupting influence’ and displayed a ‘complete lack of remorse’.
The judge further noted that Watkins presented a significant danger to the public, particularly to women with young children.
In total, Watkins was serving a 29-year prison sentence after admitting to 13 sex offences, including two attempts to rape a baby. He received an extended sentence which included a 29-year prison term followed by an additional six years on licence.
Locked in one of Britain’s most notorious prisons
The former Lostprophets frontman was housed at HMP Wakefield in Yorkshire, which accommodates some of Britain’s most notorious, high-risk sex offenders and killers. It ranks among the UK’s oldest correctional facilities, initially constructed as a house of correction in 1954, with numerous existing structures dating back to the Victorian period.
In 2001, a cutting-edge ultra-secure wing – the first of its type in the UK – was constructed specifically for Britain’s most dangerous offenders. HMP Wakefield has housed infamous inmates such as Charles Bronson, Harold Shipman and Jeremy Bamber.
The notorious prison also features an underground glass box where murderer Robert Maudsley, chillingly known as ‘Hannibal the Cannibal’, has spent over 16,500 consecutive days in isolation.
In 2019, Watkins was given an additional 10 months after he was found to have a mobile phone while incarcerated. Initially, he denied having a three-inch GSTAR phone in his cell.
As the verdict was announced, Watkins claimed that “known murderers” in his prison had told him to keep an eye on the phone after tossing it onto his bed.
During the hearing, Judge Rodney Jameson QC stated: “I am very conscious of the fact you are serving a very long time and you will be well into middle age by the time you are released. The fact of the matter is if there is not an appreciable penalty for having had a mobile phone in these circumstances then of course you would draw from that the lesson you could have another one and that is not a position I would want to encourage.”
Discussing potential consequences, he said: “Chances are someone would sneak up behind me and cut my throat. It’s not like one-on-one. Stuff like that, you don’t see it coming.”
He’s reportedly shared his prison wing with murderers, killers, rapists and paedophiles, who he referred to as “the worst of the worst”. During a previous court appearance, Watkins described his music career, stating that his band had sold between five and ten million records globally from 1999 to 2012.