PAEDO rocker star Ian Watkins has been murdered in jail in a brutal knife attack by another con.
The ex-Lostprophets frontman was ambushed and had his throat slashed after inmates were unlocked from their cells yesterday morning.
Former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins has been murdered in jail[/caption]
Watkins was handed a prison sentence for a string of child sex offences[/caption]
Watkins performing in 2008[/caption]
Police and medics raced to Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire – dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’ – but the stricken former singer could not be saved.
Watkins, 48 – who was serving 35 years for a string of child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby – is the most high-profile inmate to be killed in a UK jail in living memory.
His attacker, who justice sources said had been identified, is understood to have slashed his jugular, causing Watkins to die from blood loss.
And a source said: “Watkins has been killed in the most brutal way possible – and the attack was shocking, even by prison standards.
“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.”
They went on to say: “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.
“Watkins was air-lifted to hospital but they could not save him.
“He has been attacked a few times inside Wakefield over the last few years, so perhaps this was just a matter of time.
“The bloke who got him this time went for his jugular and it looks like a pre-planned attack.
“Watkins was obviously high-profile and in for the most disgusting crimes.
“So that meant he was walking around with a target on his back, and this has happened.
“Despite who he was, it was really shocking and gruesome.
“Experienced officers and a lot of the other prisoners were in absolute shock after what happened and a lot of them saw the awful scene.
“The inmate who attacked him used a ‘shank’ knife and he was apprehended pretty quickly.
“There was not much doubt about who had done it.”
Stabbed in guitar lessons row
We told how in August 2023, while serving his sentence, the paedophile rocker was taken to hospital after being stabbed in another prison attack.
On that occasion, he was grabbed by three other lags who attacked him and left him with neck injuries.
A siege at the jail only ended when a “Tornado” team of riot officers hurled stun grenades into the cell to free Watkins.
The vile rocker, who was jailed for 13 horrific sex offences against children, had life-saving treatment at Leeds General Infirmary.
That stabbing was sparked by a row over guitar lessons and anger over jail visits from a younger “girlfriend” of Watkins.
Watkins performing in London a few months before his arrest in 2012[/caption]
The sick fiend was jailed in 2013[/caption]
Violence is rife in UK prisons although murders are rare.
In two recent cases, convicted murderer John Mansfield was killed in high-secuirty HMP Whitemoor, Cambs in April and Dennis Green, 42, died after being attacked Fosse Way Prison, Leics, in August.
Inspectors found levels of violence at Wakefield had increased by 62 per cent since 2022 in a report published last month.
It found many inmates were scared to leave their cells and felt unsafe around “a growing cohort of younger prisoners”.
Category A Wakefield – which holds 630 lags – has been dubbed ‘Monster Mansion’ due to the number of high-profile killers, terrorists and sex offenders it holds.
Its inmates included Roy Whiting, who killed Sarah Payne, Jeremy Bamber and paedophile killer Mark Bridger.
It also holds cop-killing Al-Qaeda terrorist Kamel Bourgass, serial rapist Reynhard Sinaga and child killer Mick Philpott.
We told in March how Philpott, 69 – who killed six of his 17 children in an arson house blaze – was left “battered and bruised” in a beating at Wakefield.
And an ex-prisoner at the jail faces court for an alleged attack at Wakefield on killer paedophile Sidney Cooke, 98 – the oldest inmate in a UK jail.
Three ‘groupies’ who regularly visited fiend
The Sun on Sunday told in 2017 how depraved Watkins had three “groupies” who were allowed to visit him in jail.
The trio of goth girls made regular trips to see the beast, and he was spotted holding hands with one and kissing her.
Watkins found fame in 2000 with Lostprophets — wish the Welsh band going on to sell more than 3.4million albums worldwide.
The Alt-rock and nu-metal group were founded by Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze in Pontypridd, Wales in 1997.
They had four top 10 UK albums and charted with singles including Last Train Home, Rooftops and Burn Burn.
Vile paedo
Watkins was the poster-boy of the band which attracted a huge cult following.
But the rock world was stunned by his arrest and trial which saw him described in court as a “determined and committed paedophile”.
Watkins preyed on fans, including two who offered up their babies to be abused by their idol.
In March, bandmate Gaze, 50, broke his silence on the Watkins case, saying online: “It’s been 13 years since my band ended in the most unimaginable circumstances and it’s still painful to think about.
“Things could’ve been so different.
“I don’t talk about it much, but I put everything into that band, and it should’ve lasted a lifetime. I never really wronged anyone my whole life so it seemed like the ultimate punishment.”
Watkins was charged in 2012 and sentenced the following year.
The vile ex-rocker – an ex of TV and radio star Fearne Cotton – was jailed in 2013 after a shocking trial for offences including the attempted rape of a baby.
He changed his plea to guilty at the beginning of the trial and admitted to trying to rape a fan’s baby and plotting to rape another infant.
Watkins has been killed in the most brutal way possible – and the attack was shocking, even by prison standards.”
Prison source
Watkins filmed himself committing sex acts on a baby boy the day after Lostprophets final album Weapons was released.
The fiend claimed at Cardiff Crown Court he could not remember the sickening attacks because he was a “heavy user” of crystal meth at the time.
His two co-defendants, fans who were the mothers of victims, received sentences of 14 and 17 years in prison.
In 2014, he was refused the right to appeal against his 35-year sentence.
Lord Justice Christopher Pitchford said his offences were of “such shocking depravity” that the long sentence was called for.
He said the original trial judge had correctly gauged the seriousness of his offending and that the term was not “manifestly unjust”.
In 2019, Watkins was convicted of having a banned mobile phone in prison – and had another 10 months added to his sentence.
He used the device to communicate with scores of warped female fans from his cell.
The phone was found concealed on him after an ex-girlfriend tipped off jail bosses.
Life and Crimes
IAN Watkins was the super-confident and charismatic frontman of alt-rock band Lostprophets as they rose to fame in the early 2000s.
He had formed the group with guitarist Lee Gaze in Pontypridd, Wales in 1997 and they went on to build up a huge following on the UK’s underground music scene.
A debut album, The Fake Sound of Progress – released in 2000 – brought them commercial success.
Second album Start Something, which came out four years later spawned hits including Last Train Home and Burn Burn.
Further success followed with 2006’s Liberation Transmission and The Betrayed, released in 2010.
Lostprohets sold out venues including the Cardiff international Arena, and Watkins – their energetic lead-singer – had a legion of adoring fans.
But rumours began to swirl of his erratic behaviour, drug use and a sinister dark side.
Still, the rock world was stunned by his 2012 arrest and subsuquent conviction – which led detectives to label twisted Watkins the most dangerous sex offender they had encountered.
Watkins, who brifly dated TV and radio star Fearne Cotton in 2005, denied charges against him – but changed his plea to guilty at the start of his 2013 trial.
He confessed to 13 vile offences – including tryng to rape a fan’s 11-month-old son and conspiring to rape another’s daughter.
Watkins also admitted possessing indecent photos of children found on computers at his home in Pontypridd, South Wales.
Of 90 abuse images, 24 were level five – the most serious category.
Officers had to turn to experts at government intelligence networkGCHQ to crack encryption codes.
Meanwhile Cardiff Crown Court heard how he joked with a female fan 24 hours after his confession – calling his offences “mega lolz” (slang for laughing out loud).
In a recorded call from jail, he said: “I’m going to put a statment out just to say it was mega lolz.
“I don’t know what everyone’s getting so freaked out about.”
The fiend claimed at court that he could not remember the sickening attacks because he was a “heavy user” of crystal meth at the time.
But his own KC, Sally O’Neil admitted: “There is little that can be said in way of mitigation.”
And – handing out one of the longest tariffs ever to a convicted paedophile – Mr Justice Royce said: “These courts see a large number of horrific cases. This case, however, breaks new ground.
“You had many fawning fans. That gave you power.
“You knew you could use that power to induce young female fans to help satisfy your insatiable lust and take part in the sexual abuse of their children.
“Away from the highlights of your performances lay a dark and sinister side.”
Det Chief Insp Peter Doyle said: “He has shown no empathy or remorse.
“That potentially makes him the most dangerous sex offender I’ve ever seen.”
Two co-defendants – fans who were the mothers of victims – were caged for 14 and 17 years each.
In 2014, Watkins was refused the right to appeal against his 35-year sentence.
So until his death yesterday, he langhuished in bleak Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire – one of Britain’s toughest jails where many will believe an act of brutal natural justice was meted out.
The Lostprophets frontman peforming at the V Music Festival in Hylands Park, Chelmsford in 2011[/caption]
Former bandmate Gaze described the band ending as ‘painful’ and the ‘ultimate punishment’[/caption]
