THIS is the moment Ian Watkins stumbled from his jail cell covered in blood after an inmate allegedly stabbed him to death, a court heard.
The former Lostprophets frontman, 48, was attacked at HMP Wakefield where he was serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences.
Rico Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 44, are both accused of murdering the disgraced paedo at the maximum-security jail.
Footage played to jurors shows Watkins stumble out of his prison cell after his jugular was slashed.
The singer can be seen with blood seeping through his grey top as he beckons over some workmen nearby.
Gedal can be seen walking in the opposite direction away from Watkins’ cell after the horror, jurors heard.
Describing the CCTV to Leeds Crown Court, prosecutor Tom Storey KC said: ”The footage shows Ian Watkins emerging briefly from his cell at the same time as two workmen, who were carrying out maintenance in the prison were walking towards him along the landing.
“And the footage clearly shows blood visible on the neck of the t-shirt he was wearing.
“The workmen noticed Watkins emerging from his cell. They saw that he was holding his hand to his neck, and was obviously bleeding from a wound.
“The workmen immediately signalled for staff assistance, and three prison officers who had been outside an office further along the landing ran towards Watkins’ cell.”
Jurors heard “notorious and high-profile prisoner” Watkins had been accused of getting another inmate kicked off the wing the day before he died.
The singer had received two notes as a result that demanded money from him and threatened him with “violence”, it was said.
Although it was unclear whether these notes lay behind the attack, jurors were told prisons are places where “grudges are borne, and acted upon…and where ‘grassing’ or ‘snitching’ on others is viewed in a poor light”.
On October 11 last year, Watkins was sat in his cell when fellow inmate Gedel allegedly entered with a homemade bladed weapon.
The 25-year-old then stabbed the paedo three times in the head and neck – cutting through Watkins’ jugular vein and the surrounding muscle tissues, it is alleged.
As Gedal was later escorted past the paedo’s cell where he was receiving medical treatment, he allegedly said: “Have a good night’s sleep, Watkins lad”.
Gedel also boasted to a prison officer “If I’ve killed him, you could be talking to someone famous”, the court heard.
Mr Storey said he was kept under close observation through a hatch in his cell door following the attack.
He added: “A number of those who did so commented on what seemed to be his perky demeanour; he was quite happy to chat with the officers keeping watch on him.
“He discussed with one of them the offence that had led to him being imprisoned at HMP Wakefield in the first place, and he said something to the effect of ‘If I’m going to do life for murder, I’m going to make sure it’s worth it’.”
Leeds Crown Court was told “coincidentally”, Gedal had been placed in a cell next to Watkins the afternoon before the attack.
Mr Storey said Watkins had chosen not to leave his cell when it was unlocked shortly after 9am.
Gedel was a “basic prisoner” and only allowed out for half an hour on a Saturday morning.
This meant he only had a “30 minute window of opportunity to do what he planned to do that morning”, it was said.
Gedal had met up with fellow prisoner Samuel Dodsworth, 44, in another cell shortly before the horror, it was said.
The court heard Dodsworth had entered with a “dressing gown or towel wrapped up in a bundle” before leaving without it.
Jurors heard Gedal was then seen waiting on the prison landing for officers to move out of sight before he had the “opportunity to carry out the planned attack”.
Mr Storey said Dodsworth was on the landing, drinking from a mug and acting as a lookout.
The court heard the attack was “clearly a joint offence” as Dodsworth was aware the attack was to take place.
Jurors were also told he disposed of the weapon used in the horror.
Footage showed Watkins emerging briefly from his cell with blood visible on the neck of his T-shirt.
Two workmen who were carrying out maintenance work in the prison saw he was holding his hand to his neck, and bleeding from a wound.
They signalled for help and three prison officers ran towards Watkins’ cell, where he was bleeding from his injuries.
One officer used his radio to summon urgent help while pressing a towel against a “particularly large wound” to the side of Watkins’ neck.
Mr Storey said he asked who had done this, and Watkins “said something to the effect of ‘that little black fella’”.
The paedo singer collapsed on to his bed and lost consciousness before he was declared dead shortly after.
One 10.5cm cut sliced through his voicebox and jugular vein – causing catastrophic blood loss.
Mr Storey said: “There are some criminal offences which are so heinous that they frankly defy belief and these include the more extreme examples of what are often referred to as child sex offences.
“And there are those who perhaps believe that the punishments meted out by our courts upon people who commit such offences do not go far enough.
“But we have not had the death penalty in this country since 1965, and when we did, it was reserved for offences of murder and treason.
“The law of this country therefore remains that the appropriate means of punishing those who commit even the most serious criminal offences is by sentencing them to lengthy terms of imprisonment.
“Nevertheless, because of the particular stigma which attaches to those who commit child sex offences, even when they are sentenced to decades in prison for their crimes, they remain targets for those who take the view that their punishment is not severe enough, that imprisonment is somehow too good for them.
“And on occasion, some people decide simply to take the law into their own hands and to enact their own form of punishment upon such offenders.”
Gedel, who was initially referred to by police as Rashid Gedel, and Dodsworth both deny murder and possession of a makeshift knife in prison.
The trial continues.
