Disgraced Welsh singer Ian Watkins, who was the former frontman of Welsh rock band Lostprophets before being jailed over child sexual abuse, died after being attacked in prison on Oct 11, British media reported.

Watkins, 48, was serving a 29-year jail sentence after being convicted in December 2013 for several serious child sex crimes, including the attempted rape of a baby.

He died after being attacked by another inmate in the prison in Wakefield, northern England, where he was held, the PA news agency said, citing sources.

Local police said they were called to the prison on the morning of Oct 11 after an assault was reported. “Emergency services attended and the man was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later,” West Yorkshire Police said in a statement.

The singer, whose band sold millions of albums around the world, was also taken to the hospital in 2023 after being attacked, with British media reporting he had been taken hostage by other inmates.

Lostprophets, who formed in 1997 and had a string of gold albums in the United States and platinum albums in Britain, disbanded shortly after charges were made against Watkins.

He was convicted in 2013 after pleading guilty to 13 charges. He had admitted to two attempted rapes, sexually assaulting a child under 13, aiding and abetting the sexual assault of a child under 13, conspiring to rape a child under 13 and conspiring to sexually assault another child under 13.

He had also pleaded guilty to six counts of taking and possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing extreme pornographic images. – Agencies