Ian Watkins predicted his murder in prison before dying a shocking death
Ian Watkins once said that there was a good chance that “someone could sneak up behind me and slit my throat.” If RadarOnline.com reported on Saturday, October 11, that his grim prediction came true. The disgraced rock star, 48, who fronted Welsh band Lostprophets before his conviction for child abuse, was killed in a frenzied attack at Wakefield Prison – the infamous ‘Monster Mansion’ that houses some of Britain’s most violent criminals.
Watkins had long warned of the danger he faced at the high-security facility.
In a 2019 conversation about life behind bars, he said: “It’s not like one-on-one, let’s argue. There’s a good chance that, without my knowledge, someone would sneak up behind me and slit my throat… that kind of thing. You don’t see it coming.”
On Saturday morning, just after 9 a.m., that fear became reality when he was ambushed and fatally struck shortly after leaving his cell. Prison staff later described the scene as “more than anything we’ve ever seen.”
The former frontman served a 29-year prison sentence for thirteen child sex crimes, including the attempted rape of a baby. His conviction in 2013 followed a police raid on his home in Pontypridd, which uncovered a catalog of abuse and explicit recordings.
The judge called his crimes “plunging into new depths of depravity.” From the day he entered Wakefield, Watkins was a remarkable man: a sex offender, former celebrity and, in the eyes of other prisoners, the lowest of the low.
“He didn’t stand a chance there,” said a former prisoner who served time with him in West Yorkshire prison. ‘Everyone knew what he had done, and that alone seals your fate in a place like this. He was despised – people always said it was only a matter of time before someone got him.
“He was a dead man walking around while prisoners who had been abused for ‘normal crimes’ see child molesters as subhuman and beneath them. They earn respect by beating and killing them.”
Watkins’ fame, money and notoriety also made him a target and a resource for others. Former prison staff said this RadarOnline.com he had used his finances to buy protection from violent prisoners, but the scheme often backfired.
“He tried to buy his safety, but it only fueled more resentment,” the source claimed. “He had no real friends, just people who used him or wanted him gone.”
His fame also continued to attract outside attention. Despite the horror of his crimes, Watkins reportedly received hundreds of letters from female admirers and regular visits from “goth groupies” in their twenties. Those relationships, one former guard said, made him even more despised behind bars.
Conditions in Wakefield have long been described as volatile and in decline. A recent inspection by the Chief Inspector of Prisons found that prison violence had increased by 75 percent, with overcrowding, rampant drug use and dilapidated facilities contributing to a climate of fear.
“Wakefield is understaffed and falling apart,” one officer said. “You’ve got older sex offenders mixed with young, aggressive gang members – it’s a disaster waiting to happen.”
The 630 prisoners include some of Britain’s most notorious criminals, including child killers Roy Whiting and Mark Bridger, and family killer Jeremy Bamber. Harold Shipman and Robert Maudsley – sometimes called “Hannibal the Cannibal” – also served time there.
“It’s a place full of very, very dangerous men,” said a former director. “Once you throw a convicted pedophile into that environment, what happens next is pretty much guaranteed.”
Police have arrested two men in connection with Watkins’ death and a formal investigation is underway. Inside the prison, word of the murder spread within minutes. “There were shouts and cheers coming from the cells,” said one prisoner’s partner.
‘Nobody felt sorry for him. Everyone knew what he had done and they saw it as justice at last.”
For Watkins, who once said he feared a knife from behind more than any courtroom encounter, his prophecy proved terribly accurate.
