Two prisoners have been charged with the murder of former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins, who died following a violent assault inside HMP Wakefield on Saturday morning.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, were charged after Watkins, 48, was found with severe injuries and pronounced dead at the scene, according to West Yorkshire Police. The pair were scheduled to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court on Monday.
Emergency services responded to the high-security prison in West Yorkshire around 9 a.m. on Saturday after reports that Watkins had been attacked with a knife. Authorities immediately placed the facility on lockdown following the incident.
Watkins had been serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences after pleading guilty in 2013 to 13 charges, including attempted rape of a baby, sexual assault of a one-year-old, and encouraging a fan to abuse her child.
At sentencing, Judge John Royce described Watkins as a “manipulative and dangerous sexual predator” who had used his fame to fulfill his “insatiable lust.”
History of Violence and Controversy
This was not the first time Watkins had been attacked while incarcerated. In 2023, he was reportedly stabbed and held hostage for six hours by three inmates but survived with non-life-threatening injuries.
In 2019, Watkins returned to court after being caught with a mobile phone in prison. He described his fellow inmates as “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, [and] serial killers – the worst of the worst.”
HMP Wakefield — one of the UK’s oldest and most secure prisons — houses some of the country’s most notorious offenders, including past inmates Harold Shipman, Charles Bronson, and Ian Huntley (now held at HMP Frankland).
Prison Conditions Under Scrutiny
A July 2025 inspection report of HMP Wakefield revealed worsening conditions at the facility, noting “ageing and deteriorating infrastructure” and a 62% rise in violent incidents since the previous review. The report also found a 72% increase in serious assaults, with many older inmates — especially those convicted of sexual offences — saying they felt unsafe among younger prisoners.
Background on Watkins’ Sentence
Watkins’ 29-year sentence included 14- and 15-year consecutive terms for engaging in sexual activity with a child and attempting to rape an 11-month-old baby. He was also convicted of 11 other offences, served concurrently.
In 2014, the Court of Appeal rejected Watkins’ request to reduce his sentence, ruling that his crimes were of such “shocking depravity” that only a lengthy prison term was appropriate.
“These were offences against infant children of such shocking depravity that a very lengthy sentence of imprisonment was demanded,” wrote Lord Justice Pitchford in the decision.
Watkins’ death marks another violent episode within one of the UK’s most notorious prisons, now the focus of renewed scrutiny over inmate safety and prison violence.
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