July 2014 Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins jail term appeal refused Photo above taken by police whilst Watkins was held in custody Judges have thrown out an appeal by paedophile rock star Ian Watkins to reduce the length of his jail term for child sex offences. The Lostprophets singer from Pontypridd was jailed for 29 years in December, with another six years on licence. Click this for: Ian Watkins: Judges sentencing remarks from trial: minus Defence/Prosecution remarks – Warning contains graphic descriptions of abuse of young children Appeal judges said his offences were “of such shocking depravity that they demanded a lengthy prison sentence”. A woman jailed alongside Watkins – the mother of a girl he abused – also saw a cut in her 17-year sentence refused. A second woman, whose child was also abused by the singer, was jailed for 14 years and did not appeal. Watkins, 37, denied all the charges against him when he was arrested in December 2012 but later admitted a string of offences when the case came to court 12 months later. He was not in court for the appeal proceedings and Sally O’Neill QC, representing him, argued his sentence was too high. She said that while his offences were very serious, they were “not the worst that can happen”. She also claimed Watkins should have had a greater sentence discount for his guilty plea, which avoided the need for disturbing evidence to be shown in court. Simon Smith, defending the woman, argued an appeal was necessary on the grounds of the woman’s immaturity when the offences took place. He said she lived her life through fantasy and was compliant with Ian Watkins because of his fame. But Lord Justice Pitchford, sitting at Cardiff Crown Court with two other appeal court judges, rejected that argument. He said the woman had “willing corruptibility” and “offered her child as a sacrifice for Watkins continued interest in her”. Commenting on Watkins’ case, the lord justice said: “These were offences against infant children of such shocking depravity that a very lengthy sentence of imprisonment was demanded, not withstanding the absence of physical injury. “It is not demonstrated that the total sentence of 29 years together with the extended licence period was arguably manifestly excessive. Accordingly, the application in his case is refused.” During the police investigation detectives found a huge cache of child abuse photos and films stored on the rock star’s computers and online. He also tried to cover his tracks by using off-site “cloud” storage – Unbelievably, it was eventually discovered the password on the computer was “Ifuckkids.” It was almost five times the storage size of the South Wales Police force’s entire computer database. Code-cracking experts from GCHQ were called in as part of Operation Globe to break the encryption set up by the singer to cover his traces. Sentencing Watkins and the two women at Cardiff Crown Court in December 2013, Mr Justice Royce said the case broke “new ground” and “plunged into new depths of depravity”. Watkins admitted the attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13, but pleaded not guilty to rape. He also admitted conspiring to rape a child, 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. The two women also admitted child abuse charges. Meanwhile an inquiry into whether the singer’s celebrity status prevented him from being brought to justice sooner is being held by theIndependent Police Complaints Commission. Gross misconduct notices have been served on seven police officers as part of the investigations into the handling of allegations against Watkins. They include three from South Yorkshire Police, two from Bedfordshire Police, and two from South Wales Police. Paedophile Lostprophets rocker Ian Watkins launches appeal against sentence for attempted rape of baby Paedophile rocker Ian Watkins yesterday launched an appeal against his sentence for the attempted rape of a baby. The depraved Lostprophets frontman wants to get his 35-year jail sentence cut and will appear in front of a panel of judges next week. They will decide whether the 36-year-old, who admitted a string of sex offences, can take his case any further. Watkins first lodged an application for permission to appeal in January – and has now been given his day in court. The “determined and committed” paedophile was handed a 29-year custodial term and a further six years on licence after admitting 13 offences last year. His two accomplices, Woman A and Woman B, were jailed for 14 years and 16 years respectively. After sexually touching a groupie’s 11-month-old baby, Watkins tried to have penetrative sex with the child. He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child porn videos, some of which he had made himself. Trial judge Mr Justice Royce told Watkins: “Those who have appeared in these courts over many years see a large number of horrific cases. “This case, however, breaks new ground. “I am satisfied that you are a deeply corrupting influence, you are highly manipulative, you are a sexual predator, you are dangerous. “The public and, in particular, young females need protection from you.” Watkins, who once dated Fearne Cotton, will appear before the panel of appeal court judges at Cardiff Crown Court next Wednesday. He is currently serving his sentence in tough Long Lartin prison in Worcestershire, which also houses Charles Bronson and Ian Huntley. Click this for: Ian Watkins: Judges sentencing remarks: minus Defence/Prosecution remarks December 2013 Paedophile rock star Ian Watkins jailed for 35 years Paedophile Lostprophets singer Ian Watkins has been jailed for 35 years after admitting to 13 sex offences, with two female accomplices given 14 years and 16 years respectively Paedophile rock star Ian Watkins was told he had “plumbed new depths of depravity” as he was jailed for 35 years for a string of horrific child sex offences including the attempted rape of a baby. The disgraced rock star even spoke with a female fan from prison the day after admitting trying to have sex with the 11-month-old boy and said he would issue a statement saying it had all been “mega lolz”. Watkins, described as a “committed and determined paedophile”, pleaded guilty to 13 child sex offences at Cardiff Crown Court last month. After sexually touching a groupie’s baby son, Watkins then tried to rape the child. He also encouraged a second fan to abuse her child during a webcam chat and secretly stashed child abuse videos, some of which he had made himself. It is feared the incidents could be just the tip of the iceberg. Police are now investigating whether Watkins, 36, committed further abuse in the US and Germany. Trial judge Mr Justice Royce told Watkins, who had lost his initial cockiness and was shaking visibly, that he would serve 29 years in jail with the final six on licence. His two accomplices, Woman A and Woman B, were jailed for 14 years and 16 years respectively. Mr Justice Royce told the trio they had “plumbed new depths of depravity”. Turning to Watkins he said: “Those who have appeared in these courts over many years see a large number of horrific cases. This case, however, breaks new ground. “You, Watkins, achieved fame and success as the lead singer of Lostprophets. “You had many fawning fans. That gave you power. You knew you could use that power to induce young female fans to have help satisify your insatiable lust and take part in the sexual abuse of their own children. “Away from the highlights of your public performances lay a dark and sinister side.” The sentence was greeted by shouts of ‘yes’ from the public gallery. A senior detective described Watkins as potentially the most dangerous sex offender ever encountered. Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle of South Wales Police, who lead the investigation into Watkins, said he is likely to be confronted with new child sex abuse allegations from behind bars. He called Watkins a “committed, organised paedophile”. Watkins, from Pontypridd, South Wales, manipulated female fans, not just for sex but until they colluded in his vile abuse of their own children. Since his arrest in October last year, he has shown no remorse or commented during a single police interview. Mr Doyle said: “My view of him as an individual is that he has shown no empathy, no sympathy or any remorse for what he has done. “It’s as if he just doesn’t care. He has shown no remorse at any time. In my view, that potentially makes him the most dangerous sex offender I have ever seen. “Offending against children does not get any worse. We are not talking about children of any age here, we are talking about babies. I don’t know what he is not capable of.” He added: “I think that it is likely that there will be further matters put to him, and others, in due course. “For me he is a committed, organised paedophile. I believe that he has offended against other children.” Prior to sentencing a transcript of the phone call made by the former Lostprophets frontman to a fan from Park Prison was read out to the court in which he said: “I’m going to put out a statement on the 18th just to say it was mega lolz. “I do not know what everybody is getting so freaked out about.” During the conversation on November 27, Watkins denied being a paedophile and expressed exasperation at the way people had reacted to his guilty pleas. He said: “It was like either I go up there and say ‘come on it was not that bad, nobody got hurt’ or do I try to win them over with my charm? “Or do I end up making things worse for myself by just saying, I was off my head, I can’t remember.” Christopher Clee QC, prosecuting, told the judge that in a second conversation with the same woman, Samantha, the following day Watkins claimed a lot of what he had said in online conversations was “bullshit chat that I did to shock when I was off my head”. Told by the woman that what he had planned to say may not be a good idea, he agreed, saying: “No, it’s just lolz now.” Prosecutor Mr Clee told the court that ten counts against Watkins would be left on file. Of the 90 images of child abuse found on Watkins’ computers, 24 were at level one, the most serious category of child abuse photos, Mr Clee said. He said the youngest child was two years old and the oldest 14 years old. Mr Clee also told the court that 22 images of bestiality were discovered on Watkins’ computers. Watkins was arrested late last year after South Wales Police raided his home after receiving a drugs tip and found hard drives containing images, videos and conversations about him attacking children. The musician held more computer data than the police force who investigated his evil crimes, it was claimed. Detective Chief Inspector Peter Doyle, who led the investigation, said: “Watkins’ data storage size was 27 terabytes – which is five times the size of South Wales Police systems in storage capacity. “Not all of it was illegal material, but if you need 27 terabytes then you’re clearly into that kind of world.” Watkins, of Pontypridd, South Wales, tried to cover his tracks by using off-site “cloud” storage – he also used passwords including one: “If***kids”. In mitigation, Watkins’ barrister, Sally O’Neill QC, tried to argue her client’s life had unravelled because of the pressures of fame and his drug addiction. Sally O’Neil QC, defending, said: “Watkins received constant attention from fans and when they had that attention they would do anything to keep it. “He would not be the first rockstar to find that a heady mix – nor the first or last to take advantage of it. “For 24 hours a days, seven days a week, Ian Watkins was bombarded with messages from fans trying to hit on him.” She admitted there was little that could be said in mitigation but added: “The drugs obviously played a considerable part in this.” Cardiff Crown Court heard that Watkins had previously denied sexually assaulting children. He claimed he had no recollection of doing so. But videos showed him attempting to rape a baby. Miss O’Neil QC added: “He now realises it’s him in the videos and the realisation makes him feel sick.” She also sought to downplay Watkins’ “mega lolz” comments – which she described as “bravado”. “He was at a very low ebb and under considerable stress,” she added. A probation report carried out at Park Prison, Bridgend, found that Watkins was sexually preoccupied and said that his young victims had been a way of controlling women. They found that he was at “medium risk” of reconviction but at high risk of causing serious sexual, emotional and psychological harm to children. Miss O’Neil argued the two female co-defendants were equally to blame for the abuse that was carried out. However, Woman A’s barrister, Jonathan Fuller QC, disputed this. He said his client was an impressionable 17-year-old when she met Watkins, who was almost twice her age, for the first time. “She was corrupted by him,” said Mr Fuller. “He darkened her world with drugs and even injected her with heroin. “She sacrificed her own moral compass so she could sustain a relationship with a man she was obsessed with. “She was a girl doing her A-levels. He was in the limelight and a rock star. “She was vulnerable and exploited.” Mr Fuller added that Woman A fully accepted her actions and had shown genuine remorse. The police watchdog is now investigating three forces over the slow handling of complaints against Watkins. The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) started investigating South Wales Police almost a year ago over claims the force failed to act quickly enough having allegedly been told Watkins was planning to abuse children as early as 2008. The IPCC confirmed that South Wales Police was handed information about Watkins from five other forces before his arrest. It was confirmed last month the IPCC had launched a second investigation over the handling of a complaint made against Watkins to South Yorkshire Police in 2012. The IPCC has now revealed it is also looking at Bedfordshire Police’s involvement over claims they were told of Watkins’ activities by his ex-girlfriend Joanna Majic. Jan Williams, the watchdog commissioner, said: “No one can fail to be shocked by the vile details of Ian Watkins’s offending that emerged in court last month. “As the criminal proceedings have now ended, questions are now rightly being asked as to whether Ian Watkins could have been brought to justice sooner, what steps were taken by police in response to allegations made against him as far back as 2008, and whether his celebrity status had any impact on the investigation. “That is exactly what the IPCC is seeking to establish. “We now have three separate independent investigations into South Wales, South Yorkshire and Bedfordshire Police running alongside each other involving the handling of information held on Mr Watkins prior to his arrest. “But this is complex and will take time. There are clearly links between the three investigations, which cover a four-year period and involve numerous allegations and reports, and the police response to each must be considered.” November 2013 Lostprophets’ Ian Watkins guilty of child sex offences Ian Watkins, singer of Welsh rock band Lostprophets, has pleaded guilty to a series of “depraved” child sex offences including attempted rape of a baby. He had previously “furiously denied” the allegations. The 36-year-old from Pontypridd had been due to stand trial at Cardiff Crown Court alongside two women. Watkins pleaded guilty to attempted rape and sexual assault of a child under 13 but not guilty to rape. This was accepted by the prosecution. Sentencing will take place on 18 December. Prosecuting barrister Chris Clee QC told the court: “Ian Watkins was the lead singer in a successful band called the Lostprophets. “He accepts he was a determined and committed paedophile.” Among the sickening evidence heard today, the court was told that a laptop seized from Watkins’s home was password protected and was later sent to GCHQ to be “cracked.” Unbelievably, it was eventually discovered the password on the computer was “Ifuckkids.” Watkins also admitted three counts of sexual assault involving children and six involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal. The evidence against the defendant came from computers, laptops and mobile phones. with some recovered from “cloud” storage. The court heard that he filmed and kept the episodes of abuse – which took place in various hotels in London and south Wales – that were recovered by police. Some of the evidence was too extreme and distressing to report. Watkins insists he has no memory of what would have been key video evidence showing the abuse of his one-year-old victim Watkins was originally charged with child rape but insisted sex with child did not take place during drug-fuelled binge he says was on at the time Referring to two women standing alongside Watkins in the dock, Mr Clee said: “Both women sexually abused their own children and made them available to Watkins for him to abuse.” The court was told how the abuse of the children by all parties was also evident in text messages. Watkins sent a text to one of the women saying: “If you belong to me, so does your baby.” In an exchange involving the other woman, she sent Watkins a message along with an image of her child to the effect that her child needed to know she was not loved. And there was a conversation about “whoring out” the child as well as giving it crack cocaine. Watkins also planned to “teach” the babies how to take drugs, the hearing was told. The court has been hearing how Watkins recorded the attempted rape of a very young child in a hotel room in Shepherds Bush, London, in April 2012. He also filmed himself abusing the child with alongside the child’s mother inside a hotel where the band were staying. Watkins message to child’s mother talked of wanting “to cross the line”.
The mother replied: “a summer of incest and child porn”
watkins answered: “hell yes baby” Mr Clee said drugs played “a significant part in his offending against children”. Police found meth, crack cocaine and GHB during their searches. The court heard that a sample of a child victim’s hair found it had been exposed to Methamphetamine Mr Clee told the court drugs were a “regular theme” in his dealings with the two other defendants. Watkins told police during interviews he was being stalked by “a crazed fan” and other people had access to his computers. He claimed he was the “victim of a malicious campaign” against him. The court heard in Oct 2006, Watkins met up in a hotel with a 16-year-old girl from Boston, whom he had met during during a Lostprophets concert. She dressed in a schoolgirl’s outfit and he filmed their encounter. In Oct 2008 he filmed himself having sex with another 16-year-old girl, who was also a Lostprophets fan. One of the two women charged alongside Watkins, Woman A, admitted the attempted rape of a baby after denying rape and two charges of sexual assault as well as taking and distributing an indecent photograph of a child. Woman B pleaded guilty to conspiring to rape a child, three sexual assault charges and four charges of taking, possessing or distributing indecent images. After hearing legal argument from barristers, Mr Justice Royce called the jury into court and told them: “There will not be a trial in this case. The defendants have all pleaded guilty to nearly all the charges against them. The prosecution does not seek a trial in these circumstances. “You have been saved from having to watch extremely graphic and distressing material.” Sally O’Neill, defending Watkins, said the singer was under the care of a psychiatrist. Lostprophets, who have sold 3.5m albums around the world, were co-founded by the singer in 1997. Watkins and co defendants admit offences   Watkins, with his hands clasped in front of him, rocked back and forth as he also admitted sexually assaulting a child aged under 13. He also admitted aiding and abetting a female co-defendant to sexually assault a child under 13. The singer, who has sold 3.5m records, looked at his feet as he admitted conspiracy to rape a child aged under 13, while his voice faltered as he quietly replied “guilty” to a charge of conspiring to sexually assault a child under 13. He also pleaded guilty to possessing an indecent photograph of a child between August and December last year, a further charge of possessing four indecent photographs of children between August and December last year, and another charge of possessing five indecent images of children between last August and last September. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of taking indecent photographs of children dating back to 2007 and 2008. Watkins also admitted possession of indecent photographs of a child and possessing extreme pornography depicting a person engaged in a sex act with an animal. The musician, from Pontypridd, will be sentenced at a later date. A 21-year-old woman, who cannot be named, admitted aiding and abetting an attempted rape, aiding and abetting rape, two counts of sexually assaulting a child aged under 13 years, taking indecent photographs of children and distributing indecent photographs of children. A 24-year-old woman, who also cannot be named, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child aged under 13 by penetration. She also admitted charges of sexually assaulting a child under 13 by touching, conspiracy to rape a child under 13, conspiracy to sexually assault a girl under 13, two counts of indecent photographs of a child and distributing indecent photographs of children.