Disgraced rock star Ian Watkins has been stabbed to death at HMP Wakefield.
The convicted paedophile and former Lostprophets frontman was attacked with a knife by another inmate on Saturday morning, sources confirmed.
Emergency services were sent to the prison in West Yorkshire, but Watkins, 48, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The 48-year-old, once the singer in a popular alternative rock band that sold millions of albums around the world, 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.
Below, we look at his rise to fame in the music world, the appalling crimes that put him behind bars, and his death in prison.
Rise to fame in rock band
Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, Watkins attended Hawthorn High School with his future bandmate Mike Lewis.
Their group, alternative rock band Lostprophets, made their debut in 1997 with Watkins as the lead vocalist and would go on to release five albums between 2000 and 2010.
Selling millions of albums worldwide, the band had two top 10 singles in the UK and a number one in the US alternative chart, alongside winning multiple music awards. They released their fifth and what would turn out to be their last album, Weapons, in April 2012.
The band would perform their final gig together in Newport, Wales on 14 November the same year, just a month before Watkins was charged.
Criminal investigation
Watkin’s ex-girlfriend, Joanne Mjadzelics, first reported him to the authorities in December 2008 and was interviewed in March 2009. She told officers she had a message on her mobile phone from Watkins about his desire to sexually abuse children.
However, it later emerged that the phone was not examined “on the basis that her report was malicious”.
The disgraced rock star was apprehended in 2012 in connection to various drug charges, with South Wales Police discovering child abuse images stored on his computer during a search of his home.
Among the offences he pleaded guilty to was the attempted rape of an 11-month-old child and sickening sex abuse video filmed in a London hotel room.
In 2017, four years after he was jailed, the police watchdog revealed he could have been caught and brought to justice nearly four years earlier if detectives had properly investigated reports from a series of informants.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) said: “It [the phone] would have been found to hold a message Ian Watkins sent to Ms Mjadzelics on August 12 2007, which read: ‘WISHLIST RAPE A 12 YR OLD F*** TWO UNDERAGE TWINS’.
“The message corroborated Ms Mjadzelics’s allegations that Watkins had expressed ‘desires to abuse children’.”
Conviction and sentence
Watkins originally faced 24 separate charges – all sex offence related. On 26 November, 2013 he pleaded guilty to 11 – including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.
The then 36-year-old made a series of admissions in a last-minute change of plea ahead of what would have been his trial at Cardiff Crown Court. The charges included sexually touching a one-year-old and encouraging a fan to abuse her own child during a webcam chat.
Watkins was jailed for 29 years in December 2013 with a further six years on licence. While awaiting sentencing, he was recorded by prison officials saying the whole thing was “megalolz” during a telephone call to a friend.
Described as a committed and determined paedophile, the court heard that he had used his power over fawning young fans to exploit them and persuaded two women to help satisfy what the judge described as his “insatiable lust”.
Mr Justice Royce said: “I am satisfied that you are a deeply corrupting influence, you are highly manipulative, you are a sexual predator, you are dangerous.”
In 2014, he appealed against the sentence arguing it was “too high” but was refused.
Speaking after his conviction, former bandmate and childhood friend Mike Lewis said: “I tried reading the judge’s report. I couldn’t even finish it. To think that somebody I grew up with, who I had been friends with my entire life, whose mother I knew, and how close our families were — to even imagine him… I find it utterly unbelievable that he was capable of doing those things. Obviously he did, but how somebody can…
“I don’t understand it, I’m afraid.”
Aftermath
A report by the IPCC watchdog found a number of missed opportunities in the investigation into Watkins. They included:
- An alleged victim and her parents were not visited by officers following Ms Mjadzelics’s complaint in 2008
- Crimestoppers reports from 2010, and reports from two witnesses in that year and in 2012, “do not appear to have been progressed”, despite corroborating Ms Mjadzelics’s account
- No actions were taken on Ms Mjadzelics’s email complaint to the ACPO inbox in 2011 that her reports had not been properly investigated.
Life behind bars
In 2019, Watkins faced a further trial and was jailed for 10 months on top of the sentence he was serving for child sex offences after he was found guilty of possessing a mobile phone in prison.
Watkins produced the 8cm long GT-Star in March 2018 after a strip search at HMP Wakefield.
Watkins claimed two inmates forced him to hold on to the phone so they could contact women who sent him fan mail in order to use them as a “revenue stream”. In his evidence, the defendant refused to name the men, but said: “You would not want to mess with them.”
During the hearing, he also claimed his “life had been threatened” and said his fellow inmates were “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst”.
On Saturday 5 August 2023, Watkins was attacked at HMP Wakefield, with a source telling the Mirror he had been taken hostage by three other inmates.
Prison officers reportedly threw stun grenades into the cell where he was being held, finally freeing him several hours later.
It was reported that he was rushed to Leeds General Infirmary, having been stabbed in the neck. At the time, police said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
Death in prison
On Saturday 11 October 2025, Watkins was again attacked with a knife by another inmate, and this time he did not survive.
The prison went into lockdown in the immediate aftermath of the incident, sources said.
Police are investigating.
A Prison Service spokesperson said on Saturday: “We are aware of an incident at HMP Wakefield which took place this morning. We are unable to comment further while the police investigate.”
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “At 9.39am this morning, police were called by staff at HMP Wakefield reporting an assault on a prisoner.
“Emergency services attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later.
“Detectives from the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team are investigating and inquiries remain ongoing at the scene.”
