Ian Watkins, the former lead singer with Lostprophets who is serving a 29-year prison term for child sexual abuse, has been stabbed at a British prison on Saturday, according to media outlets.
Watkins, 46, was taken hostage by three inmates at His Majesty’s Prison Wakefield, according to The Sunday Times of London.
According to Sky News, Watkins was freed by prison guards six hours after he was taken hostage. Prison officials said he suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
Lostprophets singer and convicted pedophile Ian Watkins sustained multiple stab wounds after being held hostage by fellow inmates in the notorious British prison dubbed the "Monster Mansion" https://t.co/HFtVAMQVhm
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) August 6, 2023
“Police are investigating an incident which took place on Saturday at HMP Wakefield,” a Prison Service spokesperson said in a statement. “We are unable to comment further while the police investigate.”
Watkins has served 10 years of his sentence, Rolling Stone reported. He was convicted of 13 sex offenses, including the rape of a child under the age of 13, conspiracy to rape a one-year-old baby girl and possession of child pornography, according to the magazine.
He was arrested on Sept. 21, 2012, after the execution of a drugs warrant at his Pontypridd home, The Guardian reported. Police seized a large number of computers, mobile phones and storage devices, according to the newspaper.
Watkins was sentenced in December 2013, Sky News reported.
Before his convictions, Watkins fronted and was the main lyricist for Lostprophets, a Welsh alternative metal band, according to Rolling Stone. The band had four top-10 records in the United Kingdom, including “Weapons,” which was released in 2012.
Ten additional months were tacked onto Watkins’ sentence in 2019 after a mobile phone was found in his possession, the magazine reported. Watkins claimed that he was forced by other prisoners to hold onto the phone.
Watkins told a court that he was locked up with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, pedophiles, serial killers -- the worst of the worst,” Sky News reported.
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