:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Ian-Watkins-Lostprophets-101225-f36fe1919cc143a8a618a359da99d23b.jpg "Ian Watkins, Lostprophets singer and convicted sex offender, dies at 48 after prison attack")
Watkins was serving a 35year sentence for child sex offenses when he was attacked and killed at a prison in West Yorkshire, England. Ian Watkins, Lostprophets s
Watkins was serving a 35-year sentence for child sex offenses when he was attacked and killed at a prison in West Yorkshire, England.
Ian Watkins, Lostprophets singer and convicted sex offender, dies at 48 after prison attack
Watkins was serving a 35-year sentence for child sex offenses when he was attacked and killed at a prison in West Yorkshire, England.
By Ryan Coleman
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Ryan Coleman
Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.
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October 12, 2025 7:05 p.m. ET
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Ian Watkins performing with Lostprophets in 2012. Credit:
Stefania D'Alessandro/Redferns via Getty
Ian Watkins, the former lead singer of the Welsh band Lostprophets, who was convicted in 2013 on numerous sexual offenses against children, was killed in an English prison on Saturday.
The disgraced rock musician was attacked while serving a 35-year sentence for crimes against children he was convicted of in 2013, per BBC. Police were called to His Majesty's Prison Wakefield (called HMP Wakefield) to respond to a critical assault on an inmate early on Saturday. The victim in question, later identified as Watkins, was pronounced dead on the scene.
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Ian Watkins' mugshot.
South Wales Police
Representatives for the South Wales Police and HMP Wakefield did not immediately respond to **'s request for comment.**
Watkins rose to fame throughout the 2000s as the leading force of the Welsh rock band Lostprophets. He'd previously formed, disbanded, and joined other punk, thrash, and metal bands like Public Disturbance and Fleshbind before solidifying the lineup of the band initially called Lost Prophetz in the late 1990s.
The band's debut album, *The Fake Sound of Progress*, launched the band to success, leading to international tours with acts like Modestep and Kids in Glass Houses. Watkins' first arrest on drug-related charges in 2012 was the beginning of the end of Lostprophets, but Watkins' criminal conduct toward children had previously been known to police. ****
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Months after his first arrest in June 2012, Watkins was arrested two more times, in November and December. Investigations into the computers, mobile phones and storage devices seized from Watkins revealed volumes of damning evidence against the musician, including text messages and images corroborating claims of extreme sexual violence against children and animals.**
The following December, Watkins was convicted on 13 child offenses including the attempted rape of an infant. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Two co-defendants, mothers of two of his child victims, were also convicted and handed down prison sentences of 14 and 17 years.
The other members of Lostprophets issued a statement in the lead-up to trial announcing they were disbanding "after nearly a year of coming to terms with our heartache."
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Joanne Mjadzelics, Watkins' ex, who aided police in their investigation into his crimes, told Daily Mail on Saturday that she "wanted him dead for a long time after everything he did. I am relieved. I feel like a weight has been lifted from my head."
"I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner," Mjadzelics said. "I was always waiting for this phone call. He was walking around with a target on his back from the first day he entered the prison. I have always been scared of him getting out and tracking me down or something, so this is a relief."
She added, "This is the second time someone has slashed his throat. I expected [his death] to have happened earlier. He's been in there for almost 13 years."
Watkins was attacked inside HMS Wakefield in 2023, but his injuries were deemed non-life-threatening.
Source: "AOL Music"
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