A former Lostprophets superfan has alleged that her love for the Welsh band was exploited when Ian Watkins made a ‘sickening’ request to her.
The disgraced rock singer – who was jailed in 2013 for 35 years after being found guilty of multiple sexual offences, including sexual offences against children – was stabbed to death in prison earlier this month.
Watkins, who was 48, had served 12 years of his huge sentence when his throat was slashed by two fellow inmates at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire on October 11.
Police confirmed in the aftermath that Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, had been charged with his murder and were in police custody.
Now, after Watkins’ death and with his name back in the news, more of his alleged victims have come forward with their stories of how he turned their lives upside down.
Speaking to The Sun, Hannah, a healthcare assistant, has said that she was 17 years old when she tried to get Watkins to notice her on social media, only for their interactions to quickly turn dark.
‘He used to ask me to go on the webcam. At one point I did, and he was there, and I panicked so I shut it off. He then messaged me again and asked me to go on the webcam naked.’
Hannah says she refused his requests, but Watkins apparently persisted, asking if Hannah would bring herself and her baby daughter to meet him in person.
‘In my head, I thought “No, I’m not doing that”. He asked if my baby would be able to call him dad. He asked me if we could be used as sex slaves. Not long after that, he was arrested and then everything came out.’
Reflecting on the dreadful ordeal, Hannah says: ‘I didn’t realise how much it has affected me – it’s really, really bad. It’s sickening really – it makes me physically sick.’
At their height in the mid-2000s, Lostprophets were one of the biggest bands from the UK, landing a run of top 10 singles and successful studio albums.
In 2006, the band’s album Liberation Transmission reached number one, while singles Last Train Home and Rooftops were both made the charts in America.
Then, in December 2012, after Watkins was arrested on drug charges, his sick crimes were exposed when the police seized laptops that contained indecent images of children.
In 2013, Watkins pleaded guilty to numerous sexual offences, including sexual assaults against children, and the possession of indecent images of both children and animals.
Another Lostprophets fan, who did allow Watkins to abuse her child, has recently made a bid for freedom after being jailed for her crimes in 2013 and then in 2022.
Originally jailed for 17 years in 2013, the woman was freed in 2021 but was then jailed for a second time three years ago after being hauled back to court by authorities.
A spokesperson for the Parole Board told The Daily Mail: ‘We can confirm the parole review of (Woman B) has been referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice and is following standard processes.
‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.’
Shortly before Watkins’ trial 13 years ago, the remaining members of Lostprophets broke the group up, with a friend telling Metro they had been rendered ‘voiceless’.
‘[Watkins] stole their past. Certainly, up until the moment he died, he stole their future, and they are completely without a voice to bemoan this publicly, because how can you?
‘How can you complain about that in the shadow of what Ian did to the young children? What do your complaints sound like compared to that? They’ve become voiceless.’
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