An inmate charged with murdering paedophile singer Ian Watkins told prison staff, “If I’ve killed him, you could be talking to someone famous,” prosecutors have told a jury at Leeds Crown Court.
Rico Gedel, 25, is alleged to have made the remark shortly after stabbing the former Lostprophets frontman three times in the head and neck with a home-made knife inside his cell at HMP Wakefield on 11 October 2025. The attack, captured on CCTV, lasted just 20 seconds.
Alleged confession and taunts
Prosecutors say Gedel was “perky” when detained by prison officers afterwards. As he was escorted past Watkins’ cell while the former singer received medical treatment, he allegedly said, “Have a good night’s sleep, Watkins lad.”
According to Tom Storey KC, opening the case to jurors, Gedel also told a member of staff: “If I’m going to do life for murder, I’m going to make sure it’s worth it.”
Gedel and co-defendant Samuel Dodsworth, 44, both deny murder and possession of a makeshift knife. The prosecution alleges the killing was a “joint offence”, with Dodsworth acting as a lookout before disposing of the weapon.
How the attack unfolded
The court heard that on the morning of Watkins’ death, prison officers began unlocking cells on B wing shortly after 9am. Gedel left his cell but Watkins chose to remain inside. Less than 20 minutes later, Gedel entered Watkins’ cell.
CCTV footage showed Gedel going in just before 9.20am and leaving 20 seconds later. He then walked towards Dodsworth and passed him an item. Dodsworth glanced at it and put it in the pocket of his jogging bottoms, jurors were told.
Watkins emerged briefly from his cell with blood visible on the neck of his T-shirt. Two workmen carrying out maintenance at the prison saw him holding his hand to his neck and bleeding. They signalled for help.
Three prison officers ran to Watkins’ cell. One officer used his radio to summon urgent assistance while pressing a towel against a “particularly large wound” to the side of Watkins’ neck. Mr Storey said the officer asked who had done this, and Watkins replied “something to the effect of ‘that little black fella’.”
Watkins, from Merthyr Tydfil, Wales, collapsed onto his bed and lost consciousness. Paramedics were unable to resuscitate him and he was declared dead just before 10.15am.
Mr Storey said that as officers moved to detain Gedel, “he just stood there, holding his arms outstretched and offering no resistance to them whatsoever.”
Before all prisoners were locked in their cells, Dodsworth was seen entering an alcove with bins. A home-made knife with blood on it was later found at the bottom of one of the bins by prison officers.
Motive: jealousy over treatment of sex offenders
Prosecutors said Gedel later told police he was jealous of “nonce prisoners” because they “got treated like royalty”, and that he thought it was disgusting having to share a wing with sex offenders at HMP Wakefield, where they were not segregated.
The court heard that Gedel had been moved into the same wing as Watkins and Dodsworth the day before the attack, and was “coincidentally” placed in the cell next to Watkins. On the morning of the killing, Gedel and Dodsworth met in another prisoner’s cell. Dodsworth entered with a “dressing gown or towel wrapped up in a bundle” and left without it, jurors were told. After speaking with Dodsworth and another inmate, Gedel briefly returned to his own cell and then stood leaning against the railings while Dodsworth “loitered” near the top of the stairs, apparently acting as a lookout.
Mr Storey said: “At this time, Gedel was, in all likelihood, waiting for a moment when the prison officers on the landing were out of sight, and when he would have an opportunity to carry out the planned attack on Mr Watkins.”
The prison environment at HMP Wakefield — known by the nickname “Monster Mansion” for its concentration of high-profile, high-risk sex offenders and murderers — formed a key backdrop to the case. A 2012 report by the chief inspector of prisons had criticised conditions there, noting that many inmates were sex offenders in denial, with insufficient programmes to address their behaviour. A more recent 2022 inspection found the prison to be generally safe and well-maintained but flagged concerns about infrastructure, healthcare staffing, mental health services and a lack of sufficient activity places. That inspection also recorded a 62% rise in violent incidents and a 72% increase in serious assaults since the previous inspection.
The day before his death, Watkins received two threatening notes. Mr Storey told jurors the notes accused him of getting another prisoner removed from the wing, demanded money and threatened violence. Although it remains unclear whether the notes were directly linked to the attack, Mr Storey observed that prisons are places where “grudges are borne, and acted upon… and where ‘grassing’ or ‘snitching’ on others is viewed in a poor light”.
Background of the victim and defendants
Ian Watkins, the former frontman of the rock band Lostprophets, was serving a 29-year sentence for child sexual offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby. He pleaded guilty to 13 charges in November 2013. The sentencing judge, John Royce, described him as a “manipulative and dangerous sexual predator” who had abused his fame.
Watkins had been attacked previously inside HMP Wakefield. In August 2023, he was taken hostage by three inmates and stabbed, though his injuries were not life-threatening. In 2019, he received an additional 10-month sentence for possessing a mobile phone in prison, claiming he had been forced to hold it by other inmates.
Rico Gedel, initially referred to by police as Rashid Gedel and described as having a Black background, is already serving a life sentence with a minimum term of 27 years for a previous murder. Samuel Dodsworth, described as white British, is serving a 24-year prison term for abduction and rape.
Gedel initially refused to attend court hearings via video link, stating he wanted to appear in person. The trial is expected to last three weeks.
The trial continues.
