Former singer of “Lostprophets” stabbed to death over drug debts

A fellow inmate has revealed new details about the brutal prison attack on former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins in 2023, claiming the musician was actually stabbed over drug debts.

Watkins was sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2013 for multiple sex crimes against children, and it is not the first time he has run into trouble behind bars. In 2019, he was charged with possessing a cellphone in prison, but told a jury he had been instructed to hold the phone by known killers and “did not want to mess with them.”

As for the 2023 attack, it was reported last year that he was taken hostage by three other inmates and beaten and stabbed before prison officials could intervene.

Inmate reports on attack on Ian Watkins in 2023

The latest news of the attack comes from an inmate interviewed for Jonathan Levi and Emma French’s new book, Inside Wakefield Prison: Life Behind Bars in the Monster Mansion, and shared in a report by the Mirror.

According to the prisoner, Watkins was stabbed with a “sharpened toilet brush” during the attack, and the alleged attack was the result of the former musician failing to pay an old debt. The inmate says Watkins still has “access to money” and has spent “thousands on protection money” while in prison.

“He is hated by many, but because HMP W is a mixed group of vice presidents, high-ranking gangsters, drug importers and organised crime, they simply take money from him (Watkins) to keep him safe,” the prisoner said in an interview for the book.

READ MORE: Former Lostprophets bassist remembers fistfight with Ian Watkins

They continued: “He has spent thousands on protection money. The latest stabbing was a reminder that he must pay. He took a quantity of spice from a prisoner, worth £150 in prison. Because it was Watkins, he was told he owed £900. He was high and refused to pay; so he was stabbed in the side with a sharpened toilet brush.”

How Watkins (and other inmates) change money

The same Mirror report on the prisoner exchange also detailed how Watkins and the other prisoners were able to exchange money and secure protection behind bars.

According to the report, a person is given the phone numbers of the friends and family of the person paying them. They then give these numbers to their own family or friends over the phone. The arrangements are made outside the prison premises via bank transfer.

In Watkins’ case, the source recalled an incident: “He had paid a Liverpool gang member £1,000 to use the phone and when he was caught with it, he had to pay £5,000.”

They also said of Watkins: “He buys his protection and his recent knife attack was due to drug debts. He is considered despicable among other offenders (due to his involvement in sex offences against babies). He pays for his protection.”

Watkins has now been in prison for over a decade, and the former musician could reportedly apply for parole in 2031. However, the book’s authors stated that a number of factors could change that initial parole date, particularly whether Watkins has experienced other incidents that could delay his eligibility.