Who is Ian Watkins and why is he in prison?

Former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins has reportedly been rushed to hospital in a critical condition after he was stabbed by fellow inmates at HMP Wakefield.

The disgraced rock star was jailed for 29 years in December 2013, with a further six years on licence, after admitting a string of child sex offences – including the attempted rape of a baby's fan.

He had been taken hostage by three other inmates on Saturday morning, a source told The Mirror, with a prison service spokesperson saying police were investigating.

As reports of Watkins's depraved crimes first began to emerge in 2012, his bandmates said they were in a "state of shock", adding they were "heartbroken, angry and disgusted" when he later pleaded guilty.

The case also raised questions over how Watkins, 46, was able to get away with the abuse for so long, with a watchdog later finding that police missed several opportunities to stop him.

Read more: Disgraced Ian Watkins stabbed in prison 'while held hostage for six hours'

Here, Yahoo News takes a look at the fallout of Ian Watkins's crimes, and the reaction from his bandmates and his devastated parents.

Who is Ian Watkins?

Ian David Karslake Watkins was born in 1977 in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales, and later moved to Pontypridd, where he studied at Hawthorn High School.

There, the church minister's son was a straight-A student, and was good friends with Mike Lewis, his future bandmate. He later graduated from the University of Wales, Newport, with a first-class degree in graphic design.

Watch: Ian Watkins reportedly fighting for life after being stabbed by prison inmates

Lostprophets (originally named Lozt Prophetz) formed in 1997, and began to take off in 2000 following the release of their highly-acclaimed album The Fake Sound of Progress.

It was the peak of the nu-metal era, with the band going on to support some big names, including Linkin Park and Deftones, with their performance at Reading Festival in 2001 boosting their popularity to new heights.

Lostprophets would go on to release five studio albums, sell more than 3.5m albums worldwide, and achieve two top 10 singles in the UK charts, and a number one single in the US alternative songs chart.

Early in his career, Watkins appeared to refuse to drink or take drugs, but at some point he slipped into addiction, reportedly using cocaine, crack cocaine, crystal meth and heroin.

Music journalist Gavin Allen told the BBC how he increasingly isolated himself from the band, staying in separate hotel rooms and travelling in different cars while on tour.

Describing him as changing from a "good guy" to "detached" around 2007, he said: "In hindsight it looks like he was hiding his behaviour from the rest of the band."

Watkins's also became obsessed with extreme online pornography and abuse images, and it later emerged that he had also been grooming young mothers in order to abuse their children.

Ian Watkins' crimes

Watkins was arrested following a drugs raid at his home in Pontypridd on 21 September, 2012, when several computers, mobile phones and storage devices were seized.

This was when the true extent of the performer's depraved behaviour began to emerge. The frontman used encryption tools to try and cover his track, with GCHQ called in to crack the password on his laptop.

Describing the frontman's extensive collection of images depicting child abuse and bestiality, detective super inspector Peter Doyle, who led the investigation, said: "Watkins's data storage size was 27 terabytes – which is five times the size of South Wales Police systems in storage capacity."

During Watkins's trial it was heard that he would groom his young female fans in order to sexually abuse their children, and would also convince them to carry out abuse at his behest.

Read more: Self-styled 'paedophile hunter' who spray-painted 'nonce' on vehicle admits offences

In a text message to the mother of one victim, the singer said: "If you belong to me, so does your baby."

A transcript of one fan's conversation showed Watkins saying he was going to issue a statement following his sentencing saying his crimes had been "mega lolz" – a variation of "lol", meaning "laugh out loud".

Watkins initially denied all 23 charges against him following his arrest in December 2012, including allegations he raped an 11-month-old baby.

However, when his trial began he eventually admitted to 13 offences over five years, including attempted rape of the baby.

Watkins also admitted conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving indecent images of children and one of possessing an image involving a sex act on an animal.

Read more: Drug dealer found asleep in McDonald's car park with engine running

He was jailed for 29 years in December 2013 with a further six years on licence. Two co-defendants, mothers who'd aided the abuse, received sentences of 14 and 17 years imprisonment.

In 2019, Watkins was given an additional 10 months after he was found to have a mobile phone in prison illegally.

According to The Sun, Watkins had been grooming a 21-year-old mother from his jail cell, having first met her when she was 16, in a series of letters. The paper said the woman's two-year-old daughter was subsequently taken into care when authorities were alerted.

'Missed opportunities'

Six people came forward to make allegations about Watkins in the four years before his arrest, according to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) watchdog.

The paedophile's ex-girlfriend Joanne Mjadzelics took a laptop three times to Doncaster Police Station between March and May 2012, but South Yorkshire Police officers failed to examine it.

After an investigation, the IPCC concluded that three officers would have a case to answer for gross misconduct but as each had retired after 30 years' service, no further action could be taken.

Read more: Rachel Tunstill: Mum who murdered newborn baby with scissors dies in prison

"The evidence suggests there was a general view among officers at Doncaster that Ms Mjadzelics was not to be taken seriously, and consequently enquiries were not progressed as they should have been," IPCC Commissioner Jan Williams said.

"It is concerning that a neighbourhood police constable without specific training or support, rather than an officer from a specialist team, was expected to view and make judgement on a potential image of child sexual abuse. South Yorkshire Police did not handle a request for assistance from South Wales Police thoroughly."

Bandmates left 'angry and disgusted'

In a statement responding to Watkins's crimes, the other members of now-disbanded Lostprophets said they were "heartbroken, angry and disgusted" and said they had no prior knowledge of his abuse.

In an statement on the band's Facebook page, Mike Lewis, Jamie Oliver, Luke Johnson, Lee Gaze and Stuart Richardson said: "Earlier this week, we learned that the allegations of child sexual abuse against Ian were true, and that he would not be contesting them in court.

"Until then, we found them extremely difficult to believe and had hoped it was all a mistake. Sadly, the true extent of his appalling behaviour is now impossible to deny. Many of you understandably want to know if we knew what Ian was doing. To be clear: we did not.

"We knew that Ian was a difficult character. Our personal relationships with him had deteriorated in recent years to a point that working together was a constant, miserable challenge.

Read more: Man who spent 17 years in jail for crime he didn't commit won't have to repay prison living costs

"But despite his battles with drugs, his egotistic behaviour, and the resulting fractures and frustrations within our band, we never imagined him capable of behaviour of the type he has now admitted.

"We are heartbroken, angry, and disgusted at what has been revealed. This is something that will haunt us for the rest of our lives.

"Being in a band has always been a labour of love and a platform to inspire people, not to take advantage of them. It's still hard to believe this is happening and that someone we were once so close to has destroyed so many lives, lying every step of the way.

"Our hearts go out to Ian's family, the fans and friends he betrayed, and most importantly, the victims of his crimes and others like them. We hope for justice, but also that Ian will truly take responsibility for what he's done. We would urge any other victims to contact the authorities."

Where did we go wrong?

Watkins's parents have struggled to come to terms with the actions of their son, who they said grew up as a "normal happy young lad" with "no more problems than anybody else has".

Church minister John Davies and his wife Elaine told the Daily Mail in 2013 how he was "loved, cherished, encouraged and nurtured".

"This is so hard. It’s overwhelming. It has affected every aspect of our lives," said Watkins's father, adding: "It's the first thing a parent asks themselves – where did we go wrong? What happened?

"We're going to do our best to support him and hope for the best, that's all we can do."