Two inmates have been charged with the brutal murder of pedophile rockstar Ian Watkins.
The 48-year-old was pronounced dead at HMP Wakefield - located a 25-minute drive south of Leeds, a city in northern England - on Saturday morning (October 11), after suffering catastrophic injuries during an attack inside the high-security prison.
Reports suggest the brutal attack took place shortly after inmates were released from their cells, with the former frontman of Lostprophets allegedly suffering a fatal throat injury. He died at the scene despite emergency medical intervention.
The disgraced rockstar, once a global name who toured alongside the likes of Metallica and Slipknot, was serving a 29-year sentence after admitting to 13 sex offences in 2013.
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His crimes were described in court as 'plunging into new depths of depravity'.
A murder probe has since been launched by West Yorkshire Police, who revealed today that two inmates have been charged with his murder.
The force identified the men in the following statement: "Detectives have charged two men with murder after the death of a prisoner at HMP Wakefield on Saturday.
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"Ian Watkins aged 48 was pronounced dead after being seriously assaulted at HMP Wakefield on Saturday morning (October 11).
"Rashid Gedel aged 25 who self defines as any other black background and Samuel Dodsworth aged 43 who self defines as white British both of HMP Wakefield have both been charged with murder. They are due to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court this morning.”
The news of his death has reignited painful memories for former bandmates, particularly guitarist Lee Gaze, who co-founded Lostprophets with Watkins in the late 1990s.
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Responding to a fan on Twitter after the news broke, Gaze simply wrote: "Onwards and upwards."
In another post, he made it clear the band had no idea about Watkins’ crimes at the time.
"Yeh, and that sick c*** obvs knew what he was saying [in relation to a video of the rockstar teasing his bandmates that he likes children - unbeknown to them the truth behind his words]. I can assure you had any of us known he’d never of made it as far as prison," he commented on another post.
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Watkins had previously survived a separate prison assault in 2023.
A spokesperson for the Prison Service told LADbible Group that they could not comment further while the police investigation is ongoing.
The two suspects made their first court appearance regarding the murder charges today.
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If you’ve been affected by any of these issues or want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, the Childhelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline (1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and receives calls from throughout the United States, Canada, US Virgin Islands, Guam and Puerto Rico.
Joe Yates