Disgraced former rockstar Ian Watkins ‘predicted’ his own death in prison some years before he was murdered.
On the morning of October 11, Watkins, who rose to prominence as the frontman of Lostprophets, sharing a stage with the likes of Metallica and Slipknot, was murdered after an attack at HM Prison Wakefield in Yorkshire, UK.
At the age of 36, in 2013, Watkins was found guilty of 13 sexual offenses, including the attempted rape of a baby, multiple assaults involving children, and possession of extreme pornographic material.
He was serving a 29-year sentence for the shocking child sex crimes. During sentencing, Justice Royce described Watkins’ crimes as “plunging into new depths of depravity” labeling the musician a “corrupting influence” with a “complete lack of remorse.” He warned that “any decent person… will experience shock, revulsion and incredulity.”
Officers were called to Wakefield prison this weekend over reports of a serious assault on a prisoner. They discovered Watkins “with serious injuries” after he had allegedly been stabbed by two other inmates.
West Yorkshire Police confirmed that two men, Samuel Dodsworth, 43, and Rashid Gedel, 25, have been charged with murder in connection with his death.
Reports suggest Watkins was stabbed in the neck during the assault, dying from blood loss. A source told the Daily Mail that the attack was “the most brutal way” and “shocking,” with “blood everywhere.” Despite guards rushing to the scene, “there was nothing they could do, and they couldn’t save him.”
The weekend’s fatal attack wasn’t the first time the former rockstar had faced violence inside. In 2023, he was slashed with a sharpened toilet brush during a fight over a drug debt. A year earlier, he was held hostage for six hours and knifed, leaving him hospitalized with non life-threatening injuries.
Indeed, Watkins knew well that he was effectively living with a target on his back. In 2019, the 48-year-old was punished for having a phone in prison. When it was discovered, he tried to claim that he was holding it for other inmates, but ultimately had an extra 10 months added onto his sentence.
As per reports, Watkins refused to name the inmates to whom the cellphone belonged, talking openly about the consequences he might face.
“Chances are someone would sneak up behind me and cut my throat,” he allegedly said. “It’s not like one-on-one. Stuff like that, you don’t see it coming.”
The ex-rockstar’s former girlfriend, Joanne Mjadzelics, revealed her surprise that it “took so long” for another inmate to kill Watkins.
She said she ‘was always waiting for this phone call’ and that Watkins had been “walking around with a target on his back from the first day he entered the prison”.
READ MORE
- Haunting final post from rockstar Ian Watkins after he’s killed in prison
- Disgraced rock star Ian Watkins killed in prison
