Two charged with murder of singer Ian Watkins in Wakefield Prison

Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in prison in 2013

West Yorkshire Police A mugshot of Ian Watkins, a man with slicked back grey hair and a short, dark-haired beard. — Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in prison in 2013

Two men have been charged with the murder of paedophile singer Ian Watkins, who was killed in Wakefield Prison.

The former Lostprophets frontman, who was serving a 29-year sentence, was fatally injured in an incident at the prison just after 09:30 BST on Saturday.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have both been charged with murder and will appear before Leeds Magistrates’ Court on Monday morning, West Yorkshire Police said.

Watkins was jailed in 2013 for a string of child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby.

Watkins admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13 but pleaded not guilty to rape.

He also admitted conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.

During sentencing, Mr Justice Royce said the case broke “new ground” and “plunged into new depths of depravity”.

Watkins was previously attacked at Wakefield Prison in 2023, although his injuries were not life-threatening on that occasion

Police were called to an incident at Wakefield Prison just after 09:30 BST on Saturday

Danny Lawson/PA The outside of Wakefield Prison, an austere brutalist building with flags placed close to the entrance. — Police were called to an incident at Wakefield Prison just after 09:30 BST on Saturday

Formed in Pontypridd in 1997, Lostprophets became one of the UK’s biggest bands, securing 11 top 40 hits and a number one album between 2002 and 2010.

In a statement released after his conviction, the band’s remaining members said they were “heartbroken, angry, and disgusted” at his crimes, adding that their “hearts go out” to his victims.

A high-security prison housing some of the UK’s most notorious offenders, Wakefield Prison currently holds more than 600 inmates.

A report on conditions within the facility, which was published last month, said violence had “increased markedly” since a previous inspection in 2022.

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