Overview

• West Yorkshire Police charged Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, with murder after the former Lostprophets singer was fatally assaulted in prison on October 11.
• The defendants appeared at Leeds Magistrates’ Court, entered no pleas, made no bail applications, and were remanded pending Crown Court proceedings.
• Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year sentence for multiple child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a baby, when he was pronounced dead after a “serious assault.”
• Former staff and inmates say he was a persistent target in custody, citing prior attacks and describing HMP Wakefield as a volatile high-security prison with a mix of violent and sexual offenders.
• Some reported specifics about the attack and prisoner reactions originate from single-outlet tabloid accounts and have not been confirmed by police.