Two men have been charged with murdering paedophile Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins in a high-security prison
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, are both charged with murder and will appear before Leeds Magistrates’ Court this morning, West Yorkshire Police said.
Watkins, 48, had previously been sentenced to nearly three decades behind bars for a series of child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby daughter.
Emergency services were sent to HMP Wakefield in West Yorkshire on Saturday morning but Watkins was pronounced dead.
Gedel and Dodsworth are due to appear at Leeds Magistrates’ Court later today.
Police said Gedel self-defines as any other black background and Dodsworth self-defines as white British.
It comes as more details emerged about Watkins’ time behind bars – including paying for protection amid arrangements with drug dealers and killers.
Watkins, who was serving 29 years for a string of child sex offences, reportedly had his throat cut after prisoners came out of their cells.
A source has been quoted as saying ‘it was as if [Watkins] knew his time was up’ after receiving ‘no special protection’.
The ex-singer was reportedly living on a wing filled with some of the most dangerous criminals at the prison.
The paedophile was placed in a ‘general’ wing, as opposed to one dedicated to sex offenders.
Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with murder, West Yorkshire Police said this morning
Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins was murdered on Saturday at HMP Wakefield, where he was serving 29 years for child sex offences
HMP Wakefield is also believed to be concerned about a similar attack taking place and has carried out weapons searches.
A prison van was seen on Saturday night leaving the category A facility.
A source told the Sun: ‘Watkins was known for paying for his security in jail. He was getting rinsed.
‘The killer had approached him and said, ‘Give me money and I’ll protect you’. No one’s clear why he then turned on him – and slit his neck.’
They told of how Watkins had been ‘attacked a few times inside Wakefield over the last few years’ adding: ‘Perhaps this was just a matter of time.
‘The bloke who got him this time went for his jugular and it looks like a pre-planned attack.
‘Watkins was obviously high-profile and in for the most disgusting crimes – so that meant he was walking around with a target on his back, and this has happened.
‘Despite who he was, it was really shocking and gruesome.
‘Experienced officers and a lot of the other prisoners were in absolute shock after what happened and a lot of them saw the awful scene.
‘The inmate who attacked him used a ‘shank’ knife and he was apprehended pretty quickly. There was not much doubt about who had done it.’
Meanwhile, a former girlfriend of Watkins has told the Daily Mail of her surprise it ‘took so long’ for the depraved frontman to be killed.
Joanne Mjadzelics, who helped expose the sick paedophile, now suffers from PTSD and self-harm after being exposed to Watkins’ vile behaviour.
Speaking exclusively to the Daily Mail, she said: ‘This is a big shock, but I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. I was always waiting for this phone call.
‘He was walking around with a target on his back from the first day he entered the prison. I have always been scared of him getting out and tracking me down or something, so this is a relief.
‘I wanted him dead for a long time after everything he did. I am relieved, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my head.
‘This is the second time someone has slashed his throat. I expected it to have happened earlier. He’s been in there for almost 13 years.’
Miss Mjadzelics added: ‘The families of those poor victims will be rejoicing today. He’s gone and they will be just as relieved as I am. Maybe now a new part of my life will begin.
‘The man I fell in love with never existed. He manipulated me and that man who died today in prison was a stranger to me. I never loved him, he just put on a character.’
Two men, aged 25 and 43, were arrested on Saturday on suspicion of Watkins’ murder.
The Welsh musician had been serving 29 years for a string of child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby daughter
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: ‘Detectives have launched a murder investigation after the death of a man in HMP Wakefield.
‘Officers were called by staff at the prison at 9.39am this morning to reports of a serious assault on a prisoner.
‘A man aged 48 was found with serious injuries. Despite medical attention he was pronounced dead at the scene.
‘Two men aged 25 and 43 have been arrested on suspicion of murder and are currently in police custody.
‘Detectives from the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team are investigating and enquiries remain ongoing.’
In 2013, Watkins was given 14-year and 15-year consecutive jail terms for engaging in sexual activity with a child and the attempted rape of an 11-month-old baby.
He was also convicted of 11 other offences at Cardiff Crown Court, with those sentences running alongside his 29-year term.
Two of his co-defendants known as Mother A and Mother B – the parents of children he assaulted – were also incarcerated for 14 and 17 years respectively.
The depraved singer attempted to rape a fan’s baby girl, while he also encouraged another to abuse her own child in a webcam chat.
During the trial, it was heard how a woman had proposed to him the offer of a ‘summer of child porn’, to which he replied: ‘Hell yes, baby.’
Representing Woman B, Christine Laing QC, told the court that Watkins said to her client: ‘You and your daughter now belong to me.’
It is also understood the jailed sex offender was so ‘tech savvy’ his collection of child abuse footage and photos amounted to 27 terabytes of data.
The scale of the collection dwarfed South Wales Police’s own data storage – and was five times bigger than the force’s, which had 2,862 officers and 1,631 support staff at the time.
One terabyte could hold as much as 472 hours of broadcast quality footage or around 150 hours of HD video.
Experts from the UK government’s intelligence headquarters, the GCHQ, were brought in to crack the password on the encrypted files on his computer.
The paedophile denied the claims lodged against him before switching his plea to guilty at the last second.
In mitigation, his defence argued his use of crack cocaine and crystal meth meant he could not remember his ‘prolific abuse’.
Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle said: ‘Clearly he was man who used encryption tools. He was a man who went to some lengths to conceal what he was storing.
‘He went to some considerable lengths to try and hide his wrongdoing.
‘That takes some time to unravel and unfold but unravel it, we did. Which is why we are where we are today.’
Watkins pleaded guilty to 13 sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby and attempted sexual assault of a child under the age of 13.
During sentencing, Mr Justice Royce told the two women and Watkins: ‘Those who have appeared in these courts over many years, see here, a large number of horrific cases.
‘This case breaks new ground. Any decent person will experience shock, revulsion and incredulity.’
The judge added Watkins showed a ‘complete lack of remorse’ and had a ‘corrupting influence,’ before adding that the singer posed a significant risk to the wider public, especially women with young children.
The paedophile co-founded the Lostprophets in the Welsh town of Pontypridd in 1997, and the band went on to release five albums.
The group said in a statement it would be parting ways a month before Watkins’ sentencing – while saying they had not been aware of Watkins’ offending.
After the sex offender’s crimes emerged, the band’s music was withdrawn from HMV shelves and Rhondda Cynon Taf council removed paving stones engraved with Lostprophets lyrics.
In 2019, Watkins was handed an extra 10 months on his prison sentence after he was found to have a mobile phone.
Watkins claimed two inmates forced him to hold on to the phone so they could contact women who sent him fan mail in order to use them as a ‘revenue stream’.
In his evidence, the defendant refused to name the men, but said: ‘You would not want to mess with them.’
He argued he could not name them out of fear as he was behind bars with ‘murderers, mass murderers, rapists, paedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst’.
Judge Rodney Jameson KC said he did not accept Watkins had the phone, which was in his possession for five days, because he had been threatened.
During the five-day trial at Leeds Crown Court, the jury heard Watkins was strip-searched in the jail in March 2018 and then produced a small phone from his body after he became concerned that he would not be able to see his mother who was visiting from Wales.
In 2014 Watkins was told he could not appeal against the length of his 29-year jail term.
Lawyers for Watkins claimed he should have his jail term cut because his last-minute guilty plea spared a jury from having to watch his home-made child pornography.
However the Court of Appeal, sitting in Cardiff, turned down his application for leave for an appeal.
Presiding judge Lord Justice Pitchford said: ‘These were offences against infant children of such shocking depravity that a very lengthy sentence of imprisonment was demanded.
‘It is not demonstrated the total sentence of 29 years together with the extended licence period was arguably manifestly excessive. Accordingly, the application in his case is refused.’
Among the disturbing videos due to be shown at his trial included his attempted rape of a baby and a webcam chat in which he instructed a crazed fan to abuse her child.
The paedophile musician was previously hospitalised after being attacked in a separate incident in August 2023.
At the time, police said his injuries were not believed to be life threatening.
During that incident, three other inmates had grabbed him during the assault leaving the musician with injuries to the neck.
The attack ended when a squad of riot officers descended on the cell with stun grenades in a bid to free the sex offender.
Watkins later received life-saving medical treatment at Leeds General Infirmary.
