TWO prison inmates appeared in court today charged with murdering former Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins at HMP Wakefield.

The two men, 25-year-old Rashid Gedeland and 43-year-old Samuel Dodsworth, appeared at Leeds magistrates’ court over the alleged attack on Saturday morning.

Emergency services were sent to the prison in West Yorkshire, but the former singer, who was serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Both men were produced separately at court, only speaking to confirm their names and dates of birth during the brief hearings.

District Judge Anthony Dunne remanded both men in custody until their next appearance at Leeds Crown Court.

The judge told Mr Dodsworth: “The charge against you means this case has to be sent to the crown court as soon as possible.”

Mr Watkins, 48, was jailed for 29 years in December 2013 with a further six years on licence, after admitting a string of sex offences — including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby.

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

In 2014, Mr Watkins was told he could not appeal against the length of his 29-year jail term.

In 2019, Mr Watkins was jailed for a further 10 months after he was found guilty of possessing a mobile phone in prison, but claimed two inmates had forced him to hold on to it so they could make money from women sending him fan mail.