Ian Watkins, a former member of the Lostprophets and a convicted pedophile, was stabbed numerous times while being kept hostage in the British jail where he is currently serving a 29-year term for sex acts against young children.
Watkins was taken to the hospital after the incident with injuries that, according to Sky News, were “not life-threatening.” They claim that Watkins was held hostage by three other convicts on Saturday morning, setting off a six-hour standoff with law enforcement during which the inmates repeatedly stabbed and assaulted Watkins.
(The Mirror, a British tabloid, said that Watkins’ injuries are “life-threatening,” citing a source who said, “There are worries he could die. He will have been quite lucky if he survives.”)
Before being found guilty, Watkins was the lead singer and lyricist for the Welsh alt-metal band Lostprophets, which had four UK Top 10 hits, including 2012’s Weapons, which was released two months before Watkins’ arrest in June 2012. Dec. 2013 saw his conviction and sentencing.
After a cellphone was discovered in Watkins’ possession in 2019, he was sentenced to an additional 10 months in jail. Watkins claimed that other inmates had pushed him to hang onto the phone. Watkins, who is denying the charges, said he was housed with “murderers, mass murderers, rapists, pedophiles, serial killers – the worst of the worst” but would to disclose which inmates gave him the phone out of fear.