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Ian Watkins, the former lead singer of Lostprophets, was serving a 29-year sentence at the high-security HMP Wakefield prison in England, known colloquially as the “Monster Mansion.”
In a tragic turn of events, two inmates have been charged with murder following Watkins’ death in the UK prison on Saturday, as reported by West Yorkshire Police.
Watkins, aged 48, began his prison term in 2013 after admitting to 13 offenses related to child sex abuse, as noted by Reuters.
The accused, Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, made separate court appearances and are slated to appear at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday, according to British news reports.
Police were called to HMP Wakefield around 9:39 a.m. on Saturday in response to a “serious assault on a prisoner.” Watkins was declared deceased at the scene.
An investigation is ongoing and no motive is known at this time. No other details are available.
The high-security prison, which houses some of the UK’s most dangerous offenders, is nicknamed the “Monster Mansion,” according to the Wakefield Express. It holds roughly 600 men.
Two women were also sentenced to 14 and 17 years in connection with the charges that landed Watkins behind bars. The women were not identified to protect the identities of their abused children, according to the BBC.
Mr Justice John Royce said their actions “plunged into new depths of depravity” during sentencing.
Watkins was attacked by prisoners in 2023, as well. In that incident, he was “repeatedly stabbed and beaten” by inmates who held him hostage for six hours, according to The Rolling Stone.
He served as the leading man of Lostprophets, a rock band that formed in 1997 and disbanded after his 2012 arrest.
The band, best known for hits like ‘Last Train Home,’ sold over 3 million albums globally, according to The Rolling Stone.
Despite Watkins’s criminal charges, the band’s music has maintained a following. The band has 280,000 monthly listeners on Spotify. Their last album “Weapons” released in 2012. The band disbanded immediately after Watkins was convicted in 2013.