Overview

• West Yorkshire Police said Ian Watkins, 48, died after a serious assault at HMP Wakefield on October 11 and detectives have charged inmates Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, with murder.
• At Leeds Crown Court, Gedel refused to leave his cell for the hearing, while Dodsworth appeared via video link; neither entered a plea or sought bail.
• The court listed a plea and trial preparation hearing for November 12 and set a provisional trial date for May 5 next year.
• Watkins had been serving a 29-year sentence since 2013 for multiple child sex offences, and he previously survived a serious attack in the prison in 2023.
• Accounts from former staff and inmates depict HMP Wakefield as a volatile high‑security jail where sex offenders and violent criminals mix, with sources saying Watkins was targeted and abused regularly.