Ex-Lostprophets singer had cellphone in prison, reports say
Ex-Lostprophets singer 41-year-old Ian Watkins has been charged with having a cellphone while in prison, according to the BBC. The singer is currently serving a 35-year sentence for child sex offenses at HM Prison Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England.
According to the Yorkshire Post, Watkins recently plead not guilty to unauthorized possession of a mobile phone in a maximum security prison. Watkins appeared at a brief hearing at Leeds Crown Court via video earlier this morning.
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The ex-singer allegedly had access to the phone from March 4 through March 10 of last year.
“The issue here is that he was in possession of a mobile phone in his cell,” prosecutor Stephen Wood says in a story with the Yorkshire Post. “I am not going into specific details about what was found on that phone.
“The jury will have to know about his previous convictions,” Wood adds.
According to Leeds Live, Watkins is back in custody and will stand trial Aug. 5. The trial is expected to last five days.
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As previously reported, Watkins was sentenced to 29 years with an extended license of six years for various child sex offenses. At the time of his original arrest, he would have been considered for early release after serving two thirds of his sentence.
Back in 2013, Watkins was charged with 13 child sex offenses, including the planned rape of a baby. According to the BBC, Watkins plead guilty to sexual assault of a child under 13, but not guilty to rape.
In addition to the offenses above, Watkins admitted to “three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal,” according to the BBC.
Additionally, Watkins’ two female co-defendants—who were not to be named—were sentenced to 14 years and 17 years in prison, respectively. The co-defendants were mothers of the children Watkins assaulted. The women plead guilty to child abuse charges.
