New footage has shown former Lostprophets frontman and paedophile Ian Watkins stumbling from his jail cell after his neck was slashed three times in a ’20-second prison knife attack’.
The 48-year-old was fatally stabbed in the head and neck in his cell while serving a 29-year sentence for child sexual offences, including the attempted rape of a baby, at HMP Wakefield.
Leeds Crown Court heard yesterday how serving prisoner Rico Gedel went into the paedophile’s cell less than 20 minutes after it was unlocked for the morning on October 11, 2025, and stabbed him with a homemade knife.
The CCTV footage shows Gedel walking from left to right, briefly looking up at the camera, having allegedly slashed Watkins’ neck just seconds earlier.
He then appears to speak with fellow inmate Samuel Dodsworth, who the prosecution says served as a lookout and then disposed of the murder weapon in a bin.
Watkins can then be seen briefly emerging from his cell on the prison’s B Wing with blood seeping through his grey T-shirt.
Describing the footage to jurors at Leeds Crown Court, Tom Storey, KC, said: ‘The footage shows Ian Watkins emerging briefly from his cell at the same time as two workmen, who were carrying out maintenance in the prison, were walking towards him along the landing.
‘And the footage clearly shows blood visible on the neck of the T-shirt he was wearing.
‘The workmen noticed Watkins emerging from his cell. They saw that he was holding his hand to his neck and was obviously bleeding from a wound.
‘The workmen immediately signalled for staff assistance, and three prison officers who had been outside an office further along the landing ran towards Watkins’ cell.’
At the end of the 34-second clip, Gedel walks downstairs before Dodsworth can be seen carrying a mug in his left hand.
In a quick death for the disgraced rock star, prosecutors said the attack lasted just seconds.
Gedel was also said to have been ‘perky’ upon being detained afterwards, having allegedly said, ‘Have a good night’s sleep, Watkins lad,’ when he was taken past the cell where the former singer was receiving medical treatment.
He and Dodsworth both deny murder and possession of a makeshift knife in prison.
Following the attack, however, Gedel told jail staff, ‘If I’ve killed him, you could be talking to someone famous,’ the jury heard.
Prosecutors say the attack was ‘a joint offence’ between the two defendants, and Dodsworth knew it was going to happen.
Mr Storey previously described Watkins as a ‘particularly notorious and high-profile’ prisoner and said he received two notes the day before he was killed, which accused him of getting another prisoner kicked off the wing, demanded money from him, and threatened violence.
He also said that although it was unclear whether these notes lay behind the attack, prisons are places where ‘grudges are borne and acted upon…and where “grassing” or “snitching” on others is viewed in a poor light’.
Gedel had been moved to the same wing as Watkins and Dodsworth the day before the attack and ‘coincidentally’ placed in the cell beside Watkins’.
The following morning, when his cell on the B wing was unlocked at 9am, Watkins chose to remain inside.
It was then that Gedel and Dodsworth met in another prisoner’s cell, the court heard, and that Dodsworth entered Watkins’ cell at 9:20am with a ‘dressing gown or towel wrapped up in a bundle’ before leaving without it, CCTV shows.
After talking to Dodsworth and another inmate, Gedel briefly went back into his own cell and then stood leaning against the railings, while Dodsworth ‘loitered’ near the top of the stairs.
Mr Storey said, ‘At this time, Gedel was, in all likelihood, waiting for a moment when the prison officers on the landing were out of sight’ so he’d have an ‘opportunity’ to carry out the premeditated attack.
After being stabbed, Watkins, from Merthyr Tydfil in Wales, collapsed onto his bed and lost consciousness.
With paramedics unable to resuscitate him, he was pronounced dead just before 10:15am.
All other prisoners were then locked in their cells.
Watkins had already been ‘attacked a few times inside Wakefield over the last few years’ due to the nature of his crimes.
This included an incident in 2023, when Watkins had been left ‘fighting for his life’ after being stabbed repeatedly. He was rushed to hospital after officers found him, six hours after being taken hostage by three other inmates.
Why was Ian Watkins in prison?
Watkins was sentenced to 29 years behind bars in December 2013, with a further six years given on licence after he admitted to a string of horrific offences. In 2019, a further 10 months were added to his sentence after he was caught in possession of a banned mobile phone, which an ex-girlfriend tipped off the jail about.
Appearing at Cardiff Crown Court, Watkins admitted 13 ‘shocking’ offences. While denying rape, he confessed to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13.
He also admitted to 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 image involving a sex act on an animal.
Prosecutors said his crimes were ‘beyond imagination’, with Mr Justice Royce adding at the time that the case had ‘plunged into new depths of depravity’.
Ahead of the conclusion of his trial, Welsh rock band Lostprophets, which was founded in 1997 by Watkins and guitarist Lee Gaze, cancelled all their shows and disbanded.
In March last year, co-founder Gaze spoke out for the first time, saying what happened is ‘still painful to think about’.
‘Things could’ve been so different,’ he added online.
‘I don’t talk about it much, but I put everything into that band, and it should’ve lasted a lifetime. I never really wronged anyone my whole life, so it seemed like the ultimate punishment.’
The group had a big cult following, and Watkins used his status to prey on fans. Two fans offered up their babies to be abused, with the mothers becoming his co-defendants and receiving sentences of 14 and 17 years.
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