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FORMER Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins has died following a fatal assault at HMP Wakefield maximum security prison in Britain.
The 48-year-old was fatally attacked on Saturday morning, October 11, after inmates were released from their cells. Sources report his jugular vein was slashed during the incident, resulting in death from blood loss at the scene.
Watkins was serving a 29-year sentence with an additional six-year licence extension for 13 child sexual abuse offences, including attempted rape of an infant. His convictions emerged from a 2012 drug investigation when authorities seized numerous electronic devices from his Pontypridd, Wales, residence.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed detectives from the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team responded at 9:39am after prison staff reported the assault. Emergency services pronounced the prisoner dead shortly after arrival.
A source told The Sun about Watkins: “He was targeted by another inmate who shanked him in the neck. Guards were nearby and raced to the scene pretty quickly — but there was nothing they could do, and they could not save him. It was a horrific scene, with blood everywhere and alarms and sirens going off. Police and ambulances were called and the whole prison was locked down with all cons confined to their cells.”
A Prison Service spokesperson declined comment pending the police investigation. According to reports, guards responded rapidly but were unable to prevent the fatal outcome, with the facility entering immediate lockdown.
This marks Watkins’ second violent incident at HMP Wakefield. In 2023, he sustained non-fatal stab wounds after allegedly being held hostage by three inmates for six hours before officers intervened.
During his 2013 sentencing at Cardiff Crown Court, the judge described Watkins’ crimes as reaching “new depths of depravity.” After being caught with a contraband mobile phone in 2019, Watkins characterised his fellow inmates as “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst.”
The investigation into his death remains ongoing.
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