Two Men Have Been Charged Following The Murder of Lostprophets Singer Ian Watkins

Two men have been charged with the murder of former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, who died following a prison attack on Saturday, October 11. Watkins was serving a 29-year sentence after being found guilty of multiple child sex offences.

Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with the murder of former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins. The 48-year-old singer was serving a 29-year sentence at HMP Wakefield after being found guilty of multiple child sex offences.

A statement from West Yorkshire Police confirmed the charges: “Detectives have charged two men with murder after the death of a prisoner at HMP Wakefield on Saturday. Ian Watkins, 48, was pronounced dead after being seriously assaulted at HMP Wakefield on Saturday morning [11 October].”

The Sun would report that the singer was attacked shortly after prisoners were released from their cells. The singer would be stabbed in the neck and pronounced dead on the scene before a medical team could respond. A source would tell the paper: “It was a horrific scene, with blood everywhere and alarms and sirens going off. Police and ambulances were called, and the whole prison was locked down with all cons confined to their cells.”

In 2023, Watkins had previously survived a separate attack where three inmates took him hostage at the same prison. He would be held hostage for six hours before prison officers could intervene, and suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

In 2013, Watkins’ former girlfriend, Joanne Mjadzelics, would go on to become one of the key whistleblowers to expose the late singer’s crimes. She would go on to say that she had alerted the police five times to his abuse over four years, yet authorities still failed to act.

According to The Guardian, investigators discovered over 90 indecent images of children, aged between 2 and 14 years old, in his possession. Six people (including Mjadzelics) would report Watkins to authorities before his eventual arrest. A later report by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) highlighted failures by law enforcement to act on multiple warnings about the singer.

Watkins initially would claim he was the victim of a malicious campaign by a “crazed fan”, yet would later plead guilty to numerous charges. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison, which was then reduced to a 29-year custodial term.