The man accused of killing disgraced Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins in his prison cell told him to “have a good night’s sleep, lad” moments after allegedly slicing through his jugular vein with a homemade weapon, a murder trial has heard.
Watkins, 48, who was serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences, was attacked in his cell at HMP Wakefield on 11 October last year. Rico Gedel, 25, is alleged to have entered the singer’s cell and stabbed him three times in the head and neck, severing his jugular vein and surrounding muscle tissue. As Gedel was later escorted past the cell where Watkins was receiving medical treatment, he allegedly remarked: “Have a good night’s sleep, Watkins lad.” He also boasted to a prison officer: “If I’ve killed him, you could be talking to someone famous.”
Leeds Crown Court heard that the attack was carefully planned and carried out within a narrow window of opportunity. Gedel, described as a “basic prisoner,” was permitted outside his cell for only half an hour on Saturday mornings — giving him, according to prosecutor Tom Storey KC, just a “30-minute window of opportunity to do what he planned to do that morning.” Gedel had been placed in a cell next to Watkins the afternoon before the attack.
The court heard that Gedel had met fellow prisoner Samuel Dodsworth, 44, in another cell shortly before the assault. Dodsworth allegedly arrived carrying “a dressing gown or towel wrapped up in a bundle” and left without it. He was then seen on the prison landing, drinking from a mug, while Gedel waited for officers to move out of sight. Mr Storey told jurors the attack was “clearly a joint offence,” with Dodsworth acting as a lookout and later disposing of the weapon.
Two maintenance workers carrying out repairs in the prison noticed Watkins emerging from his cell with blood visible on his T-shirt, his hand pressed to his neck. They signalled for help and three officers responded. One pressed a towel against what was described as “a particularly large wound” to the side of Watkins’ neck while summoning urgent assistance. Watkins subsequently collapsed onto his bed and lost consciousness. He was declared dead shortly afterwards.
The court heard that in the aftermath of the attack, Gedel discussed his imprisonment openly with officers monitoring him through a hatch in his cell door. He told one officer, in relation to a potential murder conviction: “If I’m going to do life for murder, I’m going to make sure it’s worth it.”
Jurors were told that Watkins had been accused of getting another inmate removed from the wing the day before he died, and had received two notes threatening him with violence and demanding money as a result. While it remained unclear whether those notes were directly connected to the attack, Mr Storey noted that prisons are places where “grudges are borne, and acted upon” and where being seen to inform on others “is viewed in a poor light.”
Addressing the broader context of the case, Mr Storey said: “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. 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.”
Gedel and Dodsworth both deny murder and possession of a makeshift knife in prison. The trial continues.
