Trial date set for two men charged with killing Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins

A trial date has been set for the two men charged with killing Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins.

The convicted child sex offender and former frontman of the band Lostprophets was killed in Wakefield Prison aged 48 on October 11. Watkins was supposed to serve a 29-year sentence with a further six years on license.

The singer pled guilty to 13 sex offences in 2013, including the attempted rape of a baby, conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.

Two men were arrested following the news of his death, and Rashid (now reported as Rico) Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43 were charged with the killing of Watkins two days after.

Now, a provisional trial date of May 5, 2026 has been set, with the trial expected take place for two to three weeks. A plea and trial preparation hearing has also been set for November 12 at Leeds Crown Court.

Gedel and Dodsworth were due to appear in Leeds Crown Court today (October 14), but the court heard that Gedel did not want to leave his cell with prosecutor Tom Storey KC saying that “it appears he wanted to attend in person” (as per the BBC). Dodsworth would appear via video link from Wakefield Prison instead to confirm his name.

There were no details revealed about the events that took place before Watkins’ death.

Two men in court over murder of paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins.

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Watkins was previously attacked in prison in 2023, where he was stabbed and taken hostage by three other inmates. He was later found and freed by officers and taken to hospital.

It was later reported that Watkins had been stabbed with a “sharpened toilet brush” over a drug debt.

The disgraced musician had allegedly “spent thousands on protection” while in prison, according to a 2024 book titled Life Behind Bars In The Monster Mansion by Jonathan Levi and Emma French.

In 2017, Watkins was also reported to have been grooming a mother from his prison cell, with the 21-year-old’s child subsequently taken into care after social services were alerted of her contact with the disgraced singer.

A spokesman from children’s charity NSPCC said they were “sickened” at the time, adding: “It’s utterly bewildering that he could carry on grooming. It shows contempt for children he abused, and raises serious questions about supervision.”

Prison officials in Wakefield claimed they found “nothing untoward” in Watkin’s exchanges with the mother through letters and emails, with a spokesman from the Lincolnshire police adding: “We will always take action to safeguard vulnerable adults and children.”

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