Inmate pleads not guilty to murdering Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins in prison

November 13, 2025 6

Ian Watkins

A man has pleaded not guilty to murdering Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins.

The convicted child sex offender and former singer 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 licence.

He pleaded 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 Watkins’ death, and Rashid Gedel, 25, who was referred to as Rico Gedel in court, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43 were charged with his killing two days after.

Yesterday (November 12), Dodsworth appeared at Leeds Crown Court via video-link from HMP Wakefield and pleaded not guilty to murder, according to BBC News.

He also denied possessing a makeshift knife at the prison on the same day Watkins was killed. He is due to stand trial on May 5 in 2026.

A further case management hearing has been scheduled for February 2 next year.

Gedel meanwhile, refused to appear in court via video-link and no pleas were entered on his behalf.

The court was told Gedel refused to leave his cell because he wanted to appear in person.

It comes after a coroner recently ruled that Watkins died from a stab wound to the neck.

He 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.

In 2019, he was sentenced to an additional 10 months in prison for possessing a mobile phone on top of the sentence he was serving for child sex offences.

The post Inmate pleads not guilty to murdering Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins in prison appeared first on NME.

Written by: Brady Donovan

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