Ian Watkins: Cause of death for Lostprophets frontman disclosed as inquest begins

The 48-year-old singer died after an alleged attack at HMP Wakefield on October 11; Watkins was serving a 29-year sentence for child sexual offences.

Watkins was pronounced dead at the scene by an attending doctor, with a prison officer formally identifying him. At the time of publication, two men have been charged with his murder.

Coroner Oliver Longstaff opened an inquest into Watkins’ death at Wakefield Coroners Court, and established his official cause of death following a post-mortem.

Longstaff said paramedics were called to the prison, where Watkins was a serving prisoner, “following a report he had been stabbed in the neck”.

The coroner said a post-mortem report gave the cause of death as an incision to the neck. He said other inmates had been charged with murder and the coroner’s investigation would be suspended “pending the outcome of the criminal justice process”.

Longstaff said: “Whether an inquest into the death requires to be resumed following the conclusion of that criminal process is a matter of complete speculation and remains to be seen.”

The inquest heard Watkins was born in Wales in 1977.

Inmates Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with murdering the Lostprophets frontman.

Watkins was jailed for 29 years in December 2013, with a further six years on licence, after admitting a string of sex offences - including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.

The singer was arrested following the execution of a drugs warrant at his Pontypridd home in September 2012 when a large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized.