Ian Watkins of Lostprophets Dies in Prison

The former Lostprophets vocalist died in prison on Saturday, Oct. 11

The former vocalist for Welsh band Lostprophets, who is now a registered sex offender, was assaulted in prison and died from his injuries on Saturday, October 11, according to the BBC. He was 48 years of age. He was serving a 29 year sentence at the HM Prison Wakefield, known as the "Monster Mansion" in West Yorkshire, England. It was for multiple sexual offenses, including plans to rape a one year old child

According to the reports from newspaper The Sun, police and medical personnel rushed to the prison where they found Watkins' attacker, a fellow inmate. He had slashed Watkins' throat, hitting the jugular artery, resulting in almost immediate blood loss. An anonymous source told The Sun, "Watkins has been killed in the most brutal way possible - and the attack was shocking, even by prison standards. Guards were nearby and raced to the scene pretty quickly - but there was nothing they could do and they could not save him."

Watkins had another encounter with violence while behind bars. In 2023, fellow inmates held him hostage while they stabbed and beat him. One eyewitness described his injuries as "life threatening" at that time. He had been sentenced to prison in December 2013 after it was discovered he committed 13 offenses, including two counts of attempted rape, one count of statutory rape of a minor, three counts of rape involving children, six counts of taking, making or being in possession of child pornography, one count of possessing photographic evidence of bestiality (sexual acts involving animals)

The judge presiding over the case stated that the case "broke new ground" and "plunged into new depths of depravity" and sentenced Watkins to 35 years in prison in total. 29 years behind bars while the remaining 6 are on license. He noted the singer had a "corrupting influence" and "complete lack of remorse." The mothers of two of the children he abused were also sentenced to prison, one for 14 years and the other for 17 years