Disgraced Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins died from a stab wound to the neck, an inquest has heard.
Watkins, 48, died after an alleged attack at HMP Wakefield, West Yorkshire, where he was serving a 29-year sentence for child sexual offences.
On Friday, an inquest into Watkins’ death was opened and adjourned at Wakefield Coroner’s Court.
Coroner Oliver Longstaff said Watkins was pronounced dead at the West Yorkshire jail on 11 October by an attending doctor and was formally identified by a prison officer.
Mr 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 prisoners had been charged with murder and the coroner’s investigation would be suspended “pending the outcome of the criminal justice process”.
Inmates Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with murdering Watkins.
Gedel and Dodsworth appeared in court last week charged with murder, but were not asked to enter pleas.
Judge Guy Kearl, the Recorder of Leeds, set a provisional date of 5 May for a trial, which is expected to take two to three weeks.
Earlier this week, West Yorkshire Police said two more men from the prison had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to murder.
The men, aged 23 and 39, were bailed and returned to prison while inquiries continue.
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Watkins was jailed for 29 years in December 2013 with a further six years on licence after admitting a string of sex offences.
He was arrested after 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.
Analysis of the equipment uncovered his depraved behaviour.
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Watkins was previously taken to hospital after being attacked in 2023. At the time, police said his injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.
In 2019, he 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.
