A fellow inmate has offered new particulars surrounding the brutal 2023 jail assault on former Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins, claiming the musician was truly stabbed over a drug debt.

Watkins was initially jailed on a 35-year sentence in 2013 over a number of little one intercourse crimes and this isn’t the primary time he is run into bother behind bars. In 2019, he was charged for possessing a cell phone whereas in jail, however informed a jury he was instructed to carry the telephone by recognized murderers and “didn’t want to mess with them.”

As for the 2023 assault, it was reported final yr that he had been taken hostage by three different inmates the place he was overwhelmed and stabbed earlier than jail officers have been capable of intervene.

Fellow Inmate Details 2023 Attack on Ian Watkins

The most up-to-date information on that assault comes from an inmate that was interviewed for Jonathan Levi and Emma French’s new guide, “Inside Wakefield Prison: Life Behind Bars in the Monster Mansion” and shared in a report from The Mirror.

According to the prisoner, Watkins was stabbed with a “sharpened toilet brush” throughout the assault, and the alleged assault was the results of the previous musician failing to pay for a previous debt. The inmate says that Watkins nonetheless has “access to money” and has spent “thousands on protection” whereas behind bars.

“He is hated by many, but as HMP W is mixed, i.e. VPs and high-level gangsters, drug importers and organized crime, they just take money off him (Watkins) for his safety,” stated the inmate within the interview for the guide.

READ MORE: Former Lostprophets Bassist Recalls Fist Fight With Ian Watkins

They continued: “He has spent thousands on protection. The recent stabbing was a reminder that he needs to pay. He took an amount of spice off a prisoner with a prison value of £150. Because it was Watkins, he was told he owed £900. He was high and refused to pay; therefore, he was stabbed in the side using a sharpened toilet brush.”

How Watkins (And Other Inmates) Exchange Money

Within the identical report from The Mirror concerning the inmate’s trade, it was additionally detailed how Watkins and different inmates are capable of trade cash and organize for cover behind bars.

Per the report, a person obtains the telephone numbers of the family and friends of the individual they’re paying. They then give the numbers to their very own household or associates over the telephone with the preparations made outdoors of the jail grounds by financial institution transfers.

In Watkins case, the supply recalled one incident. “He had paid a Liverpool gang member £1,000 to use the phone, and when he got caught with it, he had to pay £5,000.”

They additionally stated of Watkins,  “He buys his protection, and his recent stabbing was due to a drugs debt. He is considered vile amongst other offenders (because of his involvement in sexual offenses against babies). He pays for protection.”

Watkins has now been jailed for over a decade, with the previous musician supposedly with the ability to apply for parole in 2031. However, the authors of the guide acknowledged that a lot of components might alter that preliminary parole date, particularly whether or not Watkins had another incidents that would delay his elgibility.