Ian Watkins (Lostprophets singer)

Ian David Karslake Watkins (born 30 July 1977) is a Welsh convicted child sex offender, former singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead vocalist and lead lyricist of the rock band Lostprophets.[2] In 2013, he was sentenced to 29 years imprisonment for multiple sexual offences, including the sexual assault of young children and infants,[3][4] a sentence later increased by ten months for having a mobile phone in prison. His bandmates disbanded Lostprophets shortly after his imprisonment and formed No Devotion with American singer Geoff Rickly.

Not to be confused with Ian "H" Watkins.

Ian Watkins
Watkins performing live with Lostprophets at Leeds Festival in 2007
Born
Ian David Karslake Watkins

(1977-07-30) 30 July 1977
Merthyr Tydfil, Wales
Other namesL'Amour La Morgue
Criminal statusIncarcerated at HM Prison Wakefield since 2018
Conviction(s)
Criminal penalty29 years and 10 months imprisonment (parole possible after 20 years), plus 6 years on extended licence[1]
Date apprehended
17 December 2012
Musical career
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
Instrument(s)
  • Vocals
  • drums
Years active1995–2012
Labels
Formerly ofLostprophets

Early life

Ian David Karslake Watkins was born on 30 July 1977 in Merthyr Tydfil.[5] He later moved to Pontypridd, where he attended Hawthorn High School with future Lostprophets bandmate Mike Lewis.[2] He gained a first-class honours degree in graphic design from the University of Wales, Newport.[6]

Career

As teenagers, Lewis' and Watkins's mutual enjoyment of rock and metal music strengthened their friendship. In 1991, they formed Aftermath, a thrash metal band that played in a shed in Watkins's garden.[2] Aftermath never recorded any material. 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.[2]

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).

In 2003, Watkins was featured on the Hoobastank song "Out of Control" along with Jamie Oliver, who was by then a member of Lostprophets.

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."[7] The concert featured Welsh bands the Blackout, Kids in Glass Houses, and Attack! Attack!

Watkins was also featured on the Blackout's song "It's High Tide Baby!" from their debut studio album We Are the Dynamite (2007), and also accompanied them on tour.

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, 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.[8]

Lostprophets released five studio albums: The Fake Sound of Progress (2000), Start Something (2004), Liberation Transmission (2006), The Betrayed (2010), and Weapons (2012). They toured extensively in Europe and America,[9] playing shows such as the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010.[10][11]

Sexual offences and criminal activity

Watkins' abuse and misconduct with children was reported as early as 2008 to South Wales Police, though the authorities repeatedly failed to act upon any leads linking Watkins to these allegations. Around 2006 or so, whilst on tour in support of the band's third studio album Liberation Transmission, multiple band members and road crew employees recalled seeing Watkins backstage with multiple underage fans. Watkins' former bandmates claimed they were unaware of his conduct as his drug use had begun to cause heavy strain on his relationship with them. Watkins had requested his own private dressing room away from the other five band members, where much of his abuse of children allegedly took place. Watkins had also chosen to minimize personal contact with most of his bandmates, spending more of his time at his residence in Wales during much of their off-time, while the rest of his bandmates resided in Los Angeles.[12] Bassist Stuart Richardson recalled during a December 2019 interview the tensions escalating into an altercation with Watkins after he failed to show up for a show:

I come off the stage, fucking livid. Go on the bus, Ian's on the bus. And I'm like 'nice one'. And he gives me some shit. And I black the fuck out and I'm laying punches into his face. I'm not fucking proud of it. But I'm laying punches into his face for 10 seconds or 10 minutes. I don't know. And I'm a big boy compared to him, so I'm not proud of this. And then he gives me this fucking look after I hit him. I had this can of Monster Energy in my hand and I smashed this fucking can into his head. And I'm like 'fuck', I go outside and puke. And for the next three weeks he's like black eyes, cut on his face and I'm like feeling fucking horrible about the whole thing. And that's what I did when he missed a show.

— Stuart Richardson in 2019[13]

Joanne Mjadzelics, an ex-girlfriend of Watkins, recalls him displaying multiple graphic images with minors or drug paraphernalia as early as 2010. Appalled by the content, Mjadzelics had made multiple complaints with South Wales Police, though very little action was taken at the time. Mjadzelics was one of six people who had spoken to the police in regards to Watkins' conduct from 2008 to 2011. In 2010, an Australian woman had also come forward accusing Watkins of assaulting her child, though the allegations were not investigated any further by authorities. During the recording of the band's fourth studio album The Betrayed in 2009, Mjadzelics was made aware from Watkins that he was abusing a two-year-old child in California whilst the band was recording in Los Angeles. Mjadzelics contacted the child's parents, who had also reported him to Welsh authorities, though again, no further action was taken to investigate the matter.[14][15][16]

Arrest and conviction

Watkins was first apprehended in June 2012 in connection to various drug charges, and he was granted bail shortly afterwards. Watkins had already attracted attention from Welsh law enforcement[17] after several friends reported that he was regularly smuggling cocaine and methamphetamine from Los Angeles.[18] He was arrested again on 4 November, for drug possession, and a separate allegation that he possessed an obscene image of a child.[19] He pleaded not guilty to the charges of possessing explicit material, shortly after being granted bail yet again. Watkins performed his final show with Lostprophets on 14 November 2012 in Newport, Wales. He was arrested a third time on 17 December 2012 due to another drug possession charge. South Wales Police immediately conducted a search of his home and computer in connection to their prior investigation. During the search, officers discovered numerous indecent images of children stored on his computer.[20][21] On 19 December, he was charged at Cardiff magistrates court 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". He was remanded in custody, as were his two female co-accused. His barrister said Watkins would deny the accusations.[22][23][24] 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.[25] The case was adjourned until May, with the trial date set for 15 July.[26] At a hearing on 3 June, he denied all charges via a video link.[27]

On 6 June 2013, it was announced that the trial would start on 25 November and was expected to last a month. A previous application for the court venue to be moved outside Wales was denied.[28] On 26 November, Watkins pleaded guilty to attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13, but not guilty to rape. This was accepted by the prosecution. He further pleaded guilty to three counts of sexual assault involving children; six counts of taking, making, or possessing indecent images of children; and one count of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.[4] His victims included a baby boy,[29][30] and he sent a text message to the mother of one victim that said, "If you belong to me, so does your baby."[4] The South Wales Police investigation into Watkins, codenamed "Operation Globe", required the co-operation of GCHQ to decrypt a hidden drive on his laptop, which was found to contain video evidence of his abuses.[29] Investigators later bypassed the encrypted password to Watkins' laptop, noting that it read "I FUK KIDZ".[31] On 27 November, the day after his guilty plea had been accepted by the prosecution, Watkins referred to his sex offences as "mega lolz" in a recorded phone call to a female fan made from HM Prison Parc.[32]

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.[30] Mr Justice Royce sentenced Watkins to 29 years in prison, with eligibility to apply for parole in 2031 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.[33] The judge said the case "plunged into new depths of depravity".[30] 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.[34]

Watkins was transferred from HM Prison Parc, where he had been incarcerated while on remand, to HM Prison Wakefield to begin serving his sentence.[35] 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.[36] On 9 October 2017, Watkins was accused of grooming a young mother from prison through a series of letters.[37] As of March 2018, he was back at Wakefield.[38]

Police complaints

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.[39][40]

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' behaviour, quoting a detective who said that Watkins had "a number of fans and ex-girlfriends making allegations that when investigated are false".[41][42][31] The report concluded:[29]

The consequence of the force's failings was arguably that a predatory paedophile offended over an extended period of time. The evidence obtained in this investigation suggests that South Wales Police were faced with a litany of reports about his behaviour, yet in some instances did not carry out even rudimentary investigation, made errors and omissions and missed opportunities to bring him to justice earlier than he ultimately was.

South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said his force "entirely accepts and regrets" the findings of the report.[42]

Possession of mobile phone in prison

In March 2018, Watkins was found with a mobile phone.[38][43] He was accused of using the phone to maintain contact with a girlfriend outside of prison, but denied the charge,[44] claiming it did not belong to him but to two inmates who forced him to hide it for them;[45] he refused to give their names, citing fear of violent retribution.[45] A charger for the phone was also found in his cell.[44] Watkins claimed he still received fan mail from Lostprophets fans and that the men wanted him to help them take advantage of the women writing in as a "revenue stream".[45] After a five-day trial at Leeds Crown Court in August 2019, he was convicted and sentenced to a further ten months in prison,[38][43][46] to run consecutively with his existing sentence.[47]

Hostage incident and stabbing

On the morning of 5 August 2023, Watkins was taken hostage by three other inmates at HM Prison Wakefield, and was freed by prison officers six hours later.[48][49] Police later confirmed his injuries were not life-threatening.[50]

Discography

Public Disturbance
  • 4-Way Tie Up (1997)
  • UKHC Compilation (1997)
  • Victim of Circumstance (1998)

Lostprophets
Main article: Lostprophets discography

References
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  5. Ian Watkins Archived 5 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine. BBC (26 November 2013). Retrieved on 2016-01-24.
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