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This week, the trial of two men charged with killing former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been proceeding through British courts, as per theprp. Watkins was stabbed to death in his cell at the HMP Wakefield jail on October 11, 2025, while serving a 29-year sentence for heinous child sex offences. Watkins was sentenced in 2013 and has been incarcerated ever since. According to the BBC, the prosecution claims that Rashid Gedel, a 25-year-old fellow prisoner, broke into Watkins’ cell about 20 minutes after it was unlocked early on October 11 and stabbed him three times in the head and neck. The prosecution claims that Gedel then gave 44-year-old prisoner Samuel Dodsworth the makeshift shank so he could get rid of it.
Both of the alleged prisoners have so far refuted the accusations. When Gedel was arrested for the incident, authorities said he was “perky” and that he would later tell police that he objected to “nonce prisoners” being “treated like royalty.” Watkins had received two notes the day before his murder, according to testimony given in court. According to those notes, Watkins demanded money with threats of violence and was allegedly responsible for another prisoner being expelled from the wing where he was housed. Additionally, it was disclosed that a day before the incident, Gedel had been transferred into the same wing as Watkins and Dodsworth.
According to CCTV, Gedel entered Watkins’s cell for around 20 seconds before exiting and giving Dodsworth something. The discredited musician is reported to have emerged from Watkins’ cell bloodied from the neck shortly after Gedel left. Watkins was declared dead less than an hour after the attack because paramedics were unable to revive him. According to additional CCTV evidence, Dodsworth is seen discarding something in a bin where the bloodied murder weapon was discovered by the police. In the immediate aftermath of the murder, Gedel reportedly said, “If I’ve killed him, you could be talking to someone famous,” according to jail staff. Gedel and Dodsworth’s trial is still ongoing.
