A man accused of murdering Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins allegedly declared “this is what paedophiles deserve” before slashing the convicted child sex offender’s throat, a jury at Leeds Crown Court has been told.
Rico Gedel, 25, is alleged to have made the statement to prison officers moments after the attack in Watkins’ cell at HMP Wakefield on 11 October 2025. Prosecutor Tom Storey KC, delivering his closing speech to jurors on Monday, described the remark as “as clear an indication of his underlying motive as you could hope for”. The trial has heard that Gedel repeatedly voiced his hatred of sex offenders and had threatened to hurt “any number of paedophiles” if he was not transferred to a different wing.
Gedel chose Watkins, he told the court, largely because of “proximity”. He had been moved into the cell next to the former rock star the night before the killing, after assaulting three prisoners on another wing. Mr Storey said that when a prison officer asked Gedel why he had picked Watkins, body‑worn camera footage captured him replying: “I thought he was the best one,” before adding: “Was there worse?” The prosecutor argued that Gedel’s hatred of sex offenders “ultimately underpinned the decision to attack Ian Watkins in the way he did”. Gedel himself told the jury that “part of him” wanted to kill Watkins, but another part did not, saying: “Sometimes what your heart wants is not what your brain wants.”
The attack was carried out with a makeshift knife – described in court as a Stanley‑type blade attached to a piece of plastic cutlery with tape – which Gedel used to slash Watkins’ face and neck three times. Mr Storey noted the “persistence” of the assault, pointing out that Watkins had no defensive injuries and no sign of a struggle, meaning he had “in all likelihood been taken completely by surprise”. “The intention was to cause Watkins at least really serious harm, because what else would someone carrying out such an attack with such a weapon have intended?” the prosecutor said.
After the stabbing, the court heard, Gedel was grinning and laughing. He asked prison officers to “let me know when he dies”. Mr Storey put it to the jury: “Was he being sarcastic or was he expressing from the very outset the hope that Ian Watkins would die?” Gedel, who is already serving a life sentence for murder with a minimum term of 27 years, denies murder and possessing a knife in prison.
The prosecution alleges that Gedel then passed the weapon to fellow inmate Samuel Dodsworth, 44, who threw it in a bin. Dodsworth, who was convicted of raping a woman and is serving a 24‑year prison term, also denies murder and possessing a knife. Gedel claimed in his evidence that Dodsworth had supplied him with the makeshift knife as well as disposing of it – a claim Dodsworth denies. Mr Storey described Dodsworth as “resourceful” and “someone who could obtain things for you”, but said that Gedel “has every reason to lie about Dodsworth” because Dodsworth “falls into that category of prisoner who Gedel despises”. CCTV footage from after the attack, the prosecutor told jurors, shows Dodsworth walking towards Gedel as if he “knew what he was doing” and “was expecting it”, contradicting Dodsworth’s assertion that he was surprised and tried to give the knife back.
Delivering legal directions to the jury earlier, the presiding judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, emphasised that Watkins “had committed very serious offences, yet clearly should not have lost his life in prison while serving his sentence”. He instructed jurors: “Any sympathy you might have in those circumstances cannot play any part in your deliberations.” The judge said they should not decide the case based on “sympathy or disapproval in any direction”, nor should they “be concerned with the consequences of any particular verdict”. Instead, they must carry out a “cool, calm, careful and impartial examination of the evidence in the case”.
Mr Justice Hilliard also warned the jury not to “embark on an inquiry” into Gedel’s evidence about his time in prison, which included claims that he hated being housed with sex offenders and had threatened to assault “any number of paedophiles” if not transferred. “You have not heard from those who run various prisons to explain how and why they are run with the resources they have and the issues they have to deal with,” the judge said. He noted that there was no dispute Gedel was guilty of at least manslaughter, and it was agreed that a “deliberate, unlawfully inflicted injury caused Ian Watkins’ death”. The prosecution must now prove that Gedel “either intended to kill Ian Watkins or cause him really serious harm when he did it”.
Watkins, the former frontman of the rock band Lostprophets, was jailed in December 2013 for 29 years with a further six years on licence after admitting a string of sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby, sexual assaults on children and the possession of child and animal sexual abuse material. At sentencing, Mr Justice Royce described him as a “highly manipulative sexual predator” whose influence was “deeply corrupting”. Watkins died aged 48 from a stab wound to the neck.
The judge told jurors they should not be “concerned with the consequences of any particular verdict” and must focus solely on the evidence. The trial continues.
