A fellow inmate has provided new details surrounding the brutal 2023 prison assault on former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, claiming the musician was actually stabbed over a drug debt.
Watkins was initially jailed on a 35-year sentence in 2013 over multiple child sex crimes and this is not the first time he’s run into trouble behind bars. In 2019, he was charged for possessing a mobile phone while in prison, but told a jury he was instructed to hold the phone by known murderers and “didn’t want to mess with them.”
As for the 2023 attack, it was reported last year that he had been taken hostage by three other inmates where he was beaten and stabbed before prison officers were able to intervene.
Fellow Inmate Details 2023 Attack on Ian Watkins
The most recent news on that attack comes from an inmate that was interviewed for Jonathan Levi and Emma French’s new book, “Inside Wakefield Prison: Life Behind Bars in the Monster Mansion” and shared in a report from The Mirror.
According to the prisoner, Watkins was stabbed with a “sharpened toilet brush” during the attack, and the alleged attack was the result of the former musician failing to pay for a past debt. The inmate says that Watkins still has “access to money” and has spent “thousands on protection” while behind bars.
“He is hated by many, but as HMP W is mixed, i.e. VPs and high-level gangsters, drug importers and organized crime, they just take money off him (Watkins) for his safety,” said the inmate in the interview for the book.
READ MORE: Former Lostprophets Bassist Recalls Fist Fight With Ian Watkins
They continued: “He has spent thousands on protection. The recent stabbing was a reminder that he needs to pay. He took an amount of spice off a prisoner with a prison value of £150. Because it was Watkins, he was told he owed £900. He was high and refused to pay; therefore, he was stabbed in the side using a sharpened toilet brush.”
How Watkins (And Other Inmates) Exchange Money
Within the same report from The Mirror about the inmate’s exchange, it was also detailed how Watkins and other inmates are able to exchange money and arrange for protection behind bars.
Per the report, an individual obtains the phone numbers of the friends and family of the person they’re paying. They then give the numbers to their own family or friends over the phone with the arrangements made outside of the prison grounds through bank transfers.
In Watkins case, the source recalled one incident. “He had paid a Liverpool gang member £1,000 to use the phone, and when he got caught with it, he had to pay £5,000.”
They also said of Watkins, “He buys his protection, and his recent stabbing was due to a drugs debt. He is considered vile amongst other offenders (because of his involvement in sexual offenses against babies). He pays for protection.”
Watkins has now been jailed for over a decade, with the former musician supposedly being able to apply for parole in 2031. However, the authors of the book stated that a number of factors could alter that initial parole date, especially whether Watkins had any other incidents that could delay his elgibility.
Rock + Metal Musicians Who’ve Served Time in Prison
These musicians went to prison for serious crimes.
Gallery Credit: Lauryn Schaffner
