The Welsh rock band Lostprophets (stylized as Lostprophets) featured vocalist and songwriter Ian Watkins, guitarist (formerly bassist) Mike Lewis, guitarist Lee Gaze, and drummer Mike Chiplin. They formed in Pontypridd in 1997. Cardiff music scene regulars, the band formed as a side project for members of Public Disturbance.
The five studio albums by Lostprophets are The Fake Sound of Progress (2000 ), Start Something (2004 ), Liberation Transmission (2006 ), The Betrayed (2010 ), and Weapons (2012).
Two of their singles, “Last Train Home” and “Rooftops,” peaked in the top ten on the UK Singles Chart, while “Last Train Home” reached the top spot on the US Alternative Songs chart. They also won multiple Kerrang! Awards and were nominated for many more.
Watkins was arrested and accused of several sex crimes in December 2012, including those involving children, newborns, and animals. Even though Watkins’ trial wasn’t scheduled to complete until November 2013, Lostprophets called off their final tour dates and officially split in October 2013.
Several accusations against Watkins were dropped after he entered a guilty plea. He received his 29-year prison term and 6-year parole period in December 2013. They formed a new band called No Devotion in June 2014 with American singer Geoff Rickly.
Controversy
Ian Watkins, a stepson of a Baptist pastor who grew up in the Welsh valleys, had a brilliant academic record and a gift for music.
He graduated at the top of his class and went on to become a famous rock star without ever touching alcohol or drugs. Over three million copies of CDs with his band’s name were sold.
About 2008, however, his behavior began to apparently change as he became hooked on online pornography and photos depicting abuse. Eventually, it came out that he had been abusing female followers who also had young children in their care.
Police got leads on Watkins as early as 2008, but he wasn’t arrested until 2012. Watkins admitted 13 counts of child sex crimes in 2013, including attempted rape of an infant.
His two co-defendants, both of whom are mothers of children he harmed, received sentences of 14 and 17 years, respectively. As Mr. Justice Royce put it, “new levels of depravity” were reached in this case.
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Watkins Got 29 Years for His Crime
Furthermore, the judge stated: “The many witnesses who have testified in these courts throughout the years have witnessed a wide variety of awful incidents.
“A precedent has been set by this case. Any normal human being…would be horrified and incredulous.” He continued, calling it a “typical situation that the evidence was so overwhelming” that no credit should be given.
The judge said Watkins was a “corrupting influence” and had exhibited a “total lack of remorse.” He added that the general population, and particularly pregnant women, was in grave danger from Watkins.
Legal counsel for Watkins, Sally O’Neill QC, claimed her client “belatedly recognized the gravity of what transpired” and expressed “deep, profound remorse.” The attorney testified that by the time Watkins was 30, he had developed an “obsession” with videos of himself engaging in sexual activity and was also addicted to narcotics.
The highest ranking investigator, Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle, said the sentences were commensurate with the seriousness of the offenses. According to him, “the most horrifying child abuse evidence” he has seen in over 30 years as a police officer was uncovered throughout the inquiry.
As Crown Prosecutor Suzanne Thomas put it, “Watkins the ringleader” and the defendants colluded to perpetrate “appalling crimes of abuse against young and defenseless victims.”
She claimed this about Watkins “A deadly and deceitful predator, he targeted his victims with cold calculation. The other two defendants actively participated in the most horrific forms of child abuse. The penalties they got mirrored the crimes for which they admitted responsibility.
Adults doing such horrific atrocities against children and teenagers are inexplicable, and our hearts go out to the victims and their loved ones.
The disgraced musician told a female fan he would publish a statement calling the attempted infant rape “huge lolz” the day after admitting to two counts of the crime from behind bars.
In 2013, Watkins’ heartbroken parents expressed their shock at their son’s “heinous” actions. They told the Daily Mail, “We did our best.” that their boy was “loved, treasured, encouraged, and fostered.”
A further statement was made along the lines of “We’re trying our best to assist him and hope for the best, that’s all we can do.”
Authorities Were Found to Have Ignored Multiple Allegations of Inappropriate Behavior by Watkin
Between 2008 and 2012, according to a watchdog investigation published in 2017. The audit found that despite receiving a “litany of reports concerning his behavior,” South Wales Police in some cases did not even conduct a preliminary investigation.
After being found guilty of possessing a mobile phone in prison in August of 2019, Watkins received an additional 10 months of incarceration.
A jury in Leeds Crown Court found the then-42-year-old man guilty of possessing the phone inside HMP Wakefield, a high-security prison in Yorkshire known as “Monster Mansion” because it houses some of the country’s most dangerous inmates.
Watkins stated that two inmates had threatened him if he didn’t let them use the phone to communicate with the women who had written to him out of admiration.
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Thematic Elements and Musical Style
Some of the more common labels applied to Lostprophets were nu metal and alternative metal. The band’s music, however, has been categorized into a wide range of styles, including post-grunge alternative rock, hard rock, rap rock, heavy metal, post-hardcore, pop-punk, and pop metal.
Their sound has been described as “aggressive” because of the way it fuses heavy riffs, bouncy rhythms, and catchy melodies with pop sensibilities and an easy listening experience.
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