Disgraced Lostprophets Frontman Receives 35-Year Sentence

The disgraced frontman of Welsh band Lostprohpets has been sentenced to 35 years in jail for child sex offences, in one of the most horrific court cases anywhere in the world this year.

After pleading guilty last month to 13 sex offences, including charges of infant rape, Ian Watkins received 29 years jail with six on licence and will be eligible parole after serving two thirds of his sentence.

The BBC report that the two women implicated in the case, mothers who also plead guilty to child abuse charges, were sentenced to 14 and 17 years. They are aged 21 and 24 and cannot be named.

Amongst his charges, Watkins pled guilty to the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under the age of 13. He pleaded not guilty to rape.

In delivering the sentence Justice Royce said, “Those who have appeared in these courts over many years, see here, a large number of horrific cases. This case breaks new ground. Any decent person… will experience shock, revulsion and incredulity.”

The Senior Investigating Officer Chief Inspect Peter Doyle – a 28-year veteran – said this investigation brought to light “the most disturbing child abuse evidence” he had seen.

According to The Mirror there were cheers in the public gallery when the sentence was handed down, while Watkins was observed to be physically shaking.

Watkin's 35-year charge will see the first 29 in jail and the second six in the community under license, which if breached would see him immediately returned to jail. The license will begin one he is released from prison, be it at the end of the 29 years or on parole after two-thirds of his sentence are served. Extended sentences such as this are, in the UK, reserved for offenders deemed particularly dangerous.

Earlier this week it emerged that Watkins may stand to earn $185,000 in royalties while in prison, as his offences do not relate to his music.

Entertainment lawyer Craig Brookes told Wales On Sunday, via The Independent, that “The biggest income stream will almost certainly be publishing which, even if radio play has stopped, will still be pretty big.

“They will say 'This is how much music is in the market place so it is likely you are due this amount'. He will also get a publishing cut for any play Lostprophets have anywhere.”

He added, “The records could be earning a substantial amount. It could easily have translated to 100,000 or 200,000 extra sales.

“It could be over £100,000 easily. It could be less but there will be another spike when he gets sentenced, in terms of money generated – because of clips when the story breaks, then there will be a spike in online activity.”

The fall out of the horrific case has seen the band, once one of Wales' top rock music exports, spit in shock, and saw Ian H Watkins, a member of the pop group Steps, become the victim of online abuse.