Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins’ injuries are ‘not life-threatening’ after prison stabbing
The convicted paedophile and disgraced rock star was attacked in HMP Wakefield over the weekend.
By Nick Reilly
The injuries sustained by former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins after he was stabbed in jail are not life-threatening, police have said.
The convicted paedophile and disgraced rock star was attacked in HMP Wakefield while serving his 29-year sentence for a string of depraved child sex offences.
A source previously told The Mirror that Watkins had been taken hostage by three other inmates on Saturday morning and was brutally attacked.
West Yorkshire Police has now confirmed that it was informed of the assault on Saturday (August 5). They went on to confirm that Watkins, 46, was taken to hospital while inquiries into the attack continue.
Watkins was jailed in December 2013 for a string of heinous child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby. He was sentenced to 29 years behind bars, while two co-defendants, the mothers of the children he abused, were jailed for 14 and 17 years.
Jailing Watkins, Mr Justice Royce said his case “plunged into new depths of depravity”.
“Those who have appeared in these courts over many years, see here, a large number of horrific cases,” he said.
“This case breaks new ground. Any decent person… will experience shock, revulsion and incredulity.”
The judge also said Watkins had shown a “complete lack of remorse” for his crimes.
Prior to his convictions, Watkins was the frontman and lyricist of the Welsh alt-metal band Lostprophets, which scored four Top 10 records in the U.K. including 2012’s Weapons, released two months before Watkins’ June 2012 arrest. He was convicted and sentenced in December 2013.
In 2019, Watkins was given 10 additional months in prison after a mobile phone was found in his possession; he argued that he was forced by other prisoners to hold onto the phone. While fighting the charges, Watkins refrained from revealing which prisoners gave him the phone out of fear, saying he was locked up with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, pedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst.