Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins 'predicted his own death' in prison years before he was killed behind bars.
The disgraced singer, 48, was killed over the weekend (11 October) at HMP Wakefield while serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences he had been convicted of in 2013.
Officers were called to the prison on Saturday morning over reports of a serious assault on a prisoner and found Watkins 'with serious injuries', he was pronounced dead at the scene.
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West Yorkshire Police said that two men, Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with murder in connection with his death and were due to appear in court today (13 October).
The attack was not the first time the paedophile had been assaulted in prison, as he had been taken to hospital in 2023 for non-life-threatening injuries.
In 2019, he'd been punished for having a phone in prison and tried to claim that other inmates had told him to keep hold of it, but he was jailed for a further 10 months on top of his 29-year prison sentence for it.
Speaking about potential consequences he might face, the convicted child sex offender had said: "Chances are someone would sneak up behind me and cut my throat. It's not like one-on-one. Stuff like that, you don't see it coming."
Given how he ended up, it turned out to be rather prescient.
Watkins had been in prison for a case which a judge had said 'plunged into new depths of depravity' and 'breaks new ground' with the horrifying evidence the court had to look through.
Justice Royce said that any 'decent person' would 'experience shock, revulsion and incredulity' at Watkins' crimes and that he had shown a 'complete lack of remorse' over what he had done.
Watkins being killed in prison seemed to be something he'd 'predicted' and it also did not come as a surprise to others.
His ex-girlfriend Joanne Mjadzelics said her surprise was that it 'took so long' before he was killed, saying when she was told about it, it was a 'big shock' to hear about it but she was 'surprised it didn't happen sooner'.
She explained that she 'was always waiting for this phone call' and that Watkins, as a convicted paedophile, had been 'walking around with a target on his back from the first day he entered the prison'.
Watkins had been given consecutive sentences of 14 and 15 years for engaging in sexual activity with a child and the attempted rape of an 11-month-old baby, along with 11 other offences.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Joe Harker