Overview

• West Yorkshire Police said staff at HMP Wakefield reported an assault at 9:39 a.m. on Saturday, and a 48-year-old man was pronounced dead at the scene.
• Two men aged 25 and 43 were arrested on suspicion of murder and remain in police custody.
• The victim is identified in media reports as Ian Watkins, the former Lostprophets singer, who was serving a lengthy sentence for multiple child sexual offences after 2013 guilty pleas.
• Several outlets report the use of a sharp weapon and severe neck wounds, details that have not been officially verified by police.
• Watkins had previously been attacked in August 2023 inside the same high-security prison, where he was held hostage for hours and stabbed with an improvised weapon.