Two Men Arrested in UK Over Stabbing Death of Lostprophets Singer Ian Watkins

British police have detained two men on suspicion of murder after former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins was fatally stabbed while incarcerated at HMP Wakefield.

Watkins, 48, died on Saturday, Oct. 11, while serving a 29-year sentence at the high-security prison in West Yorkshire. He had been imprisoned since 2013 following convictions for multiple child sexual offences.

West Yorkshire Police said two fellow inmates, aged 25 and 43, were arrested in connection with the attack in a statement. A homicide inquiry has been launched, and authorities have not released the identities of those detained. Read the police statement.

Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 charges at his trial, including the attempted rape of an infant; the presiding judge at the time described the offences as having “plumbed new depths of depravity.”

His death follows a recent inspection that flagged a sharp increase in violence at HMP Wakefield. The chief inspector’s report noted that many prisoners — particularly older men convicted of sexual offences — said they felt vulnerable amid a growing population of younger inmates. The BBC reported on the findings.

This was not Watkins’ first assault behind bars: in August 2023 he was attacked by three other prisoners and treated for neck injuries.

Lostprophets formed in 1997 and achieved mainstream success in the early 2000s. Their 2006 album Liberation Transmission reached No. 1 on the U.K. Albums Chart, and the 2004 single “Last Train Home” topped Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart. The band dissolved in 2013 after Watkins’ arrest.

Source