Ian Watkins, Former Lostprophets Singer, Killed in Prison Attack

Ian Watkins, the former lead singer of Lostprophets who was serving a lengthy prison sentence for child sexual offences, was killed in an assault at HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire on October 11, 2025. He was 48 years old.

Multiple U.K. outlets reported that Watkins died after being stabbed by another inmate. West Yorkshire Police said staff at HMP Wakefield called officers after an assault on a prisoner at 9:39 a.m.; emergency services attended and the man was later pronounced dead at the scene. Reuters covered the police statement.

Sky News and other outlets reported that Watkins suffered injuries consistent with a knife attack. Sky News said the assault involved stabbing; tabloid reports claimed his throat was slashed after inmates were let out of their cells that morning. Authorities have not released full details of the incident and investigations remain ongoing.

Watkins had previously been assaulted in custody. In August 2023 he was attacked by three inmates and required medical treatment for neck injuries.

He was serving a 29-year sentence imposed after his 2013 conviction on multiple child sex offences. Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 offences, including attempted rape of an infant, sexual assault of a one-year-old, encouraging an associate to abuse her child, and creating child pornography. At sentencing, the judge said Watkins’ conduct had “plumbed new depths of depravity.”

Lostprophets formed in 1997 and rose to prominence in the 2000s. The band reached No. 1 on the U.K. albums chart with Liberation Transmission (2006) and scored a No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart with “Last Train Home” in 2004. Their final album, Weapons, was released in 2012 shortly before Watkins’ arrest; the group disbanded soon afterward.

Further updates will depend on official releases from West Yorkshire Police and prison authorities as their inquiries progress.

Sources: Reuters, Sky News, contemporary reporting.

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