Ian Watkins

In March 2018, Watkins was found with a mobile phone that he had been hiding in his anus. Watkins pleaded not guilty to the offence of "possession of a mobile phone in a prison", claiming other inmates were threatening and extorting him; forcing him to hide the phone. After a five-day trial in August 2019, at Leeds Crown Court, Watkins was, however, convicted and sentenced to an additional ten months' imprisonment.

A further IPCC report, published in August 2017, found that police had failed a number of times from 2008 to 2012 to act on reports of Watkins's behaviour, quoting a detective who said that Watkins had "a number of fans and ex-girlfriends making allegations that when investigated are false". The report concluded:

An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigation report published in summer 2016 said that three detectives from the South Wales force should face disciplinary action after they failed to act on earlier allegations of abuse by Watkins from 2008 onward.

Watkins was transferred from HM Prison Parc, where he had been incarcerated while on remand, to HM Prison Wakefield to begin serving his sentence. In order to be closer to his mother after she had a kidney transplant, he was transferred to HM Prison Long Lartin on 25 January 2014. He was subsequently transferred to HM Prison Rye Hill. On 9 October 2017, Watkins was accused of grooming a young mother from prison. As of March 2018, he was back at HMP Wakefield.

A sentencing hearing was held at Cardiff on 18 December 2013. In mitigation, Watkins's barrister, Sally O'Neill QC, said that Watkins had no recollection of the case involving the attempted rape, but had "belatedly realised the gravity of what happened" after having developed an "obsession" with videoing himself having sex. Justice John Royce sentenced Watkins to 29 years in prison, with eligibility to apply for parole after serving two thirds of his prison term, followed by six years of supervised release. His two co-defendants, the mothers of his victims, respectively received sentences of 14 and 17 years' imprisonment. The judge said the case "plunged into new depths of depravity". A senior investigating officer on the case described Watkins as a "committed, organised paedophile" and "potentially the most dangerous sex offender" he had ever seen.

On 19 December 2012, Watkins was charged with conspiracy to engage in sexual activity with a one-year-old girl and possession and/or distribution of indecent images of children and "extreme animal pornography", charges that were heard at Cardiff magistrates court. He was remanded in custody, as were his two female co-accused. His barrister said Watkins would deny the accusations. On 31 December, he appeared at Cardiff Crown Court via video link from HM Prison Parc in Bridgend, and was remanded in custody until 11 March 2013. The case was adjourned until May, with the trial date set for 15 July. At a hearing on 3 June, he denied the charges via a video link.

In 2009, Watkins started a remixing side project called "L'Amour La Morgue". He released 17 remixes by artists such as the Killers, Beyoncé, Young Guns, Magic Wands, Tears for Fears, and Bring Me the Horizon. He also released a free mixtape, which was available online, along with a free download of a song that was premiered at a fashion show in 2008.

On New Year's Eve 2008, Watkins took part in a concert for Kidney Wales Foundation and stated that his reasons for being involved were as a result of his mother needing a kidney transplant: "Having that direct experience is why I wanted to get more involved with Kidney Wales and organise a fundraising concert on New Year's Eve." The concert featured Welsh bands the Blackout, Kids in Glass Houses, and Attack! Attack!

Lostprophets recorded five albums: The Fake Sound of Progress, Start Something, Liberation Transmission, The Betrayed, and Weapons. They toured extensively in Europe and America, playing shows such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010.

Watkins reunited with Mike Lewis as a drummer in a hardcore band called Public Disturbance, formed in 1995. By this time, Watkins and Gaze had left Fleshbind to create their own band, Lost Prophets, who made their live debut in May 1997 alongside Public Disturbance, with Watkins as the lead vocalist. In 1998, Watkins left Public Disturbance to concentrate on the newly named lostprophets (all lower-case letters).

Lewis' and Watkins's mutual enjoyment of rock and metal music strengthened their friendship, leading them to form a group as teenagers in 1991 called Aftermath, a thrash metal band that played in a shed in Watkins's garden. Whilst spending time in the local Ynysangharad Park, where (17 years later) Lostprophets would headline The Full Ponty festival, Watkins was introduced to future bandmate Lee Gaze through a mutual friend. Having abandoned Aftermath, which made two live appearances in its lifespan of two years, Watkins and Gaze decided to form a new band called Fleshbind, based on their American hardcore punk influences. The band played several shows, including one supporting Feeder in London, but the group was short-lived.

Ian David Karslake Watkins (born 30 July 1977) is a Welsh convicted sex offender and former singer, songwriter, and musician. He achieved prominence as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Lostprophets. In 2013, Watkins was sentenced to 29 years' imprisonment for multiple sexual offences, including the sexual assault of young children. Lostprophets disbanded shortly thereafter.

Watkins was born in Merthyr Tydfil on 30 July 1977. He later moved to Pontypridd, where he attended Hawthorn High School with future Lostprophets bandmate Mike Lewis. He gained a first-class honours degree in graphic design from the University of Wales, Newport.