Ian Watkins murder-accused said ‘this is what paedophiles deserve’, jurors told

A man accused of murdering Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins said “this is what pedophiles deserve” before slitting the singer’s throat, a jury has been told.

Watkins, a convicted child sex offender, died after being attacked in his cell at high-security HMP Wakefield on October 11, 2025.

A hearing at Leeds Crown Court heard on-duty prisoner Rico Gedel stabbed Watkins three times with a makeshift knife before passing it to fellow prisoner Samuel Dodsworth, who threw him into a bin.

Gedel, 25, and Dodsworth, 44, pleaded not guilty to murder and prison knife possession charges.

Prosecutor Tom Storey KC told jurors in his closing statement on Monday that Watkins “did nothing to trigger this attack.”

“No matter how heinous his crimes were, this in no way justifies his killing,” he said.

Gedel told the hearing he hated being housed with sex offenders at HMP Wakefield and had threatened to harm “any number of paedophiles” if he was not transferred.

He said he chose Watkins largely because of “familiarity” because he had been put in the cell next to him after being moved from another wing for assaulting three inmates there the night before.

Gedel told the court that “part of him” wanted to kill Watkins, but another part of him didn’t, adding: “Sometimes what your heart wants is not what your brain wants.”

Mr Storey told jurors that Gedel had “clearly expressed to you his hatred of sex offenders” and that they would consider whether this was “what ultimately formed the basis of his decision to attack Ian Watkins in this way”.

He said Gedel’s claim that he told Watkins “this is what pedophiles deserve” before slitting his throat was “as clear an indication of his underlying motive as you could hope for.”

Mr Storey said when asked by a prison officer why he chose Watkins, body-worn camera footage showed him telling him he “thought it was the best” and then asking: “Was there anything worse?” He said he asked.

The prosecutor told jurors that Watkins had no defensive injuries and there was no sign of a struggle in the cell, meaning he “was most likely caught completely off guard by this attack.”

Describing the “continuity” of the attack as Gedel slashed Watkins’ face and neck three times until he began to bleed, Mr Storey said: “The intention was to cause at least serious harm to Watkins, because what else could someone have intended to do such an attack with such a weapon?”

He said Gedel grinned and laughed after the stabbing and asked prison officers to “let me know when he dies.”

Mr Storey asked: “Was he being sarcastic or was he expressing the hope from the beginning that Ian Watkins would die?” he said.

The court heard Gedel claimed in his statement that as well as disposing of the gun, he also gave it to himself, but Dodsworth denied this.

Mr Storey said Gedel described Dodsworth as “resourceful” and “someone who could get something for you”, but Dodsworth said this did not include providing a homemade weapon.

He told the court that Gedel, who was convicted of raping a woman and “fell into the category of prisoners Gedel despised”, “had every reason to lie about Dodsworth”.

Mr Storey told jurors that CCTV showing Gedel handing Dodsworth the knife after the attack showed him walking towards Gedel as if he “knew what he was doing” and “expected it”.

He said this contradicted Dodsworth’s claim that he was surprised by Gedel and tried to give him the knife back.

Giving his legal instructions to jurors earlier, the judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, said Watkins had “committed very serious crimes but clearly should not have died in prison while serving his sentence”.

“Any sympathy you may have under the circumstances can play no part in your deliberations,” he told the jury.

The judge said jurors should not decide the case on the basis of “sympathy or disapproval in any direction” and should not be “concerned with the consequences of any decision.”

He told them that “the evidence in the case must be examined coolly, calmly, carefully and impartially.”

Mr Justice Hilliard said they should not “launch an investigation” into Gedel’s evidence of his time in prison, which included claims he hated being housed with sex offenders at HMP Wakefield and threatened to attack “numerous pedophiles” if he was not transferred.

The judge told jurors that the story had been heard only by Gedel, adding: “You have not heard anything from those who run the various prisons explaining how and why they are run with the resources they have and the problems they have to deal with.”

He said there was no dispute that Gedel was guilty of at least manslaughter and it was agreed that “the death of Ian Watkins was caused by an injury that was deliberately, unlawfully inflicted”.

“The prosecution must now prove that Rico Gedel intended to kill Ian Watkins or that he actually caused serious harm to him in doing so,” the judge said.

Watkins was sentenced to 29 years in prison in December 2013, with a further six years on license, after admitting a string of sexual offenses, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.

The trial continues.