15 October 2025 , 10:34
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A woman who let Lostprophets frontman Ian Watkins sexually abuse her infant is appealing for release from prison.
The disgraced 48-year-old singer was serving a 35-year sentence after his 2013 conviction for 13 child sex offences, including conspiring to rape an 11-month-old baby and three counts of sexual assault involving children.
But a few days ago, Watkins was fatally stabbed in his cell at HMP Wakefield.
Since then, Rashid Gedel, 25, and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with his murder.
As the pair are due to make their first appearance at Leeds Crown Court today, it has emerged that the mother of the baby Watkins abused is launching a new bid for release.
In 2013, the woman was jailed for 17 years for handing her child to the paedophile to abuse and to be used in indecent photographs.
She was initially released in 2021, but was brought back to court and returned to prison the following year.
She was freed at the automatic release point in June 2021; however, her licence was revoked, and she was taken back into custody that September.
Authorities said she had lied about her relationships, and there were concerns about ‘other behaviour’.
Another parole hearing took place in November 2023 to decide whether she could be released a second time.
At the time, a review looked back at her circumstances when she was first convicted: ‘At the time of her offending, these risk factors had included experiencing low self-esteem and being prepared to offend for the approval of others.
‘She had been too easily influenced and manipulated by another person. She had felt lonely and had been unable to successfully maintain relationships. Nor had she thought sufficiently about the impact of her actions on her victim.’
Despite good behaviour in custody, she declined to take part in treatments designed to help her understand her sexual offending.
There were also concerns about her emotional wellbeing, and the Parole Board ultimately decided she could not be released back into the community.
‘The panel was not satisfied that re-release at this point would be safe for the protection of the public,’ it said at the time.
The Daily Mail now reports she is making a second bid for release.
A spokesperson for the Parole Board told the publication: ‘We can confirm the parole review of (Woman B) has been referred to the Parole Board by the Secretary of State for Justice and is following standard processes.
‘Parole Board decisions are solely focused on what risk a prisoner could represent to the public if released and whether that risk is manageable in the community.’
‘A panel will carefully examine a huge range of evidence, including details of the original crime, and any evidence of behaviour change, as well as explore the harm done and impact the crime has had on the victims.’
They continued: ‘Parole reviews are undertaken thoroughly and with extreme care. Protecting the public is our number one priority.’
A second woman was also imprisoned for offering her baby to Watkins; she received a 14-year sentence.
In court, Watkins was described as ‘a determined and committed paedophile’. In 2014, he was denied permission to appeal his 35-year sentence.
After Watkins’ death, a source told The Sun he was killed in ‘the most brutal way possible, even for prison standards’.
They continued: ‘He was targeted by another inmate who shanked him in the neck.
‘Guards were nearby and raced to the scene pretty quickly – but there was nothing they could do, and they could not save him.’
Watkins was ‘airlifted to hospital’ as the prison, also known by its nickname of ‘Monster Mansion’, was ‘locked down’.
The former Lostprophets frontman, who co-founded the band with Lee Gaze in 1997, had previously been left ‘fighting for his life’ after a knife attack in 2023.
Before his trial concluded, the Welsh rock band, which released five albums, cancelled all their shows and disbanded.
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