Paedophile ex-singer Ian Watkins of Lostprophets killed in prison, 2 inmates arrested for attack

Ian Watkins, 48, the disgraced singer of Welsh rock band Lostprophets, was killed in prison on Oct. 11, while serving a 29-year jail sentence after his December 2013 conviction for serious child sex crimes.

His crimes included the attempted rape of a baby.

He died after being attacked by another inmate in the prison in Wakefield, northern England, where he was held, British media reported.

Watkins was pronounced dead at the scene after police were called to the prison on Saturday morning.

Two men, aged 25 and 43, were arrested on suspicion of murder.

While his cause of death was not widely reported, Watkins is said to have died from blood loss after being slashed to the jugular, Daily Mail reported.

Attacked before

He was previously taken to the hospital in August 2023 after being attacked.

He had been taken hostage by other inmates in that incident.

The attack ended when riot officers used stun grenades in the cell to free the sex offender after a six-hour standoff.

The prison reportedly saw more violence in recent times as increasingly more younger inmates were incarcerated alongside older ones, usually convicted of sexual crimes, it was reported.

Women also jailed in case

Two other people, the mothers of children he abused, were jailed for 14 and 17 years.

Watkins had attempted to rape a fan's baby girl, while he also encouraged another to abuse her own child in a webcam chat.

It was Watkins' ex-girlfriend, Joanne Mjadzelics, who helped expose the paedophile.

Her initial accusations of his exploits were not taken seriously and dismissed by the UK police.

Daily Mail reported that Mjadzelics said her ex-boyfriend had a target on his back in prison: "This is the second time someone has slashed his throat. I expected it to have happened earlier. He's been in there for almost 13 years."

How he was caught

It was a drug bust that nabbed Watkins and his electronic items were seized as part of routine operations.

It was then that the scope of his abuse was revealed.

It was believed that there were more victims involved.

Background

Lostprophets formed in 1997 and sold millions of records in the U.S. and Britain.

The group disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013 and their music was pulled from record stores.

He pleaded guilty to 13 charges.

He 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 admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13, but pleaded not guilty to rape.

He had also admitted to 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 had also pleaded guilty to six counts of taking and possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornographic images.

In total, he was convicted of 11 other offences and was serving the prison sentences for those crimes alongside his 29-year jail term.

Top photos via South Wales Police & Lostprophets