Following Ian Watkins’ death in prison on October 11, his ex-girlfriend has commented on the former Lostprophets frontman and convicted pedophile. He had been serving a 29-year sentence at HMP Wakefield since 2013.
Joanne Mjadzelics spoke with The Daily Mail recently, where she admitted Watkins’ death was a shock, but not exactly unexpected.
“This is a big shock,” she said, “but I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner. I was always waiting for this phone call. He was walking around with a target on his back from the first day he entered the prison.”
She continued, “I have always been scared of him getting out and tracking me down or something, so this is a relief. I wanted him dead for a long time after everything he did. I am relieved, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my head. This is the second time someone has slashed his throat. I expected it to have happened earlier. He’s been in there for almost 13 years.”
Ian Watkins’ Ex-Girlfriend expresses ‘Relief’ After His Death In Prison
In 2023, Ian Watkins was held hostage and beaten by his fellow inmates. He allegedly sustained “life-threatening” injuries from the incident. This past weekend, two other inmates brutally slit Watkins’ throat. He died of blood loss, pronounced dead at the scene when police arrived.
According to a West Yorkshire Police spokesperson, an investigation is underway, and the two inmates were taken into custody. This incident comes just weeks after a report revealed that prison violence had “increased markedly” at Wakefield.
While Mjadzelics doesn’t have to worry about Watkins getting out of prison now, her fears of retribution may not have been unfounded. Starting in 2008, she was instrumental in providing police with evidence of Watkins’ crimes. However, it took four years before the South Wales Police actually took her claims seriously.
Frequently during the investigation, the police ignored leads, passed the case off on inadequately trained departments, and labeled Mjadzelics’ claims as “malicious.” Only after Watkins was finally convicted and the Independent Police Complaints Commission released a report on how the case was handled did the police address the issues.
“[The] report highlights a number of failings in which information about Watkins was investigated between 2008 and 2012 which the force entirely accepts and regrets,” South Wales Police Assistant Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan admitted in 2015.
Police Dismissed Multiple Reports Made Against Watkins, Citing Lack of evidence
Mjadzelics shared details of her experiences with the police starting in 2008, two years after she began a romantic relationship with Ian Watkins. Around that time, he started sharing his sexual fantasies involving minors, and Mjadzelics became worried. When he showed her sexually explicit images of children, she knew that she had to report him.
However, the initial case against Watkins was dropped in 2008 after police interviewed Mjadzelics. She revealed that they didn’t believe her, claiming she had no evidence. She tried to contact Watkins’ family, but police warned her that making accusations without credible evidence is classified as harassment.
In 2010, Mjadzelics reported Watkins once again. After reaching out that year, he initiated contact not to apologize or show remorse, but to show her more explicit material.
“He opened his laptop and I can say the girl was about six or seven – I am not going to describe it – and I looked at him and could feel the tears in my eyes. He had this smirk on his face, an evil smirk on his face, as if he was getting off on the fact it was upsetting me. It was at that point I told him he had to get out,” she told The Daily Mail recently. “I had been starting to think I had been wrong about him. He had been trying to make me feel guilty for reporting him. But I wasn’t wrong.”
After Four Years Of Fumbling, Police Finally Got Watkins With An Unrelated Drug Bust
Mjadzelics’ final attempt to report Ian Watkins to the police was in 2012, but once again she was shot down. Instead, Watkins’ true nature was revealed with an unrelated drug bust. Police raided his home with suspicions of drug possession, but instead found the explicit pedophilic material.
“The families of those poor victims will be rejoicing today,” said Mjadzelics. “He’s gone and they will be just as relieved as I am. Maybe now a new part of my life will begin.”
The Ian Watkins that he presented to the public—big-time Lostprophets rockstar—was not his true self, said Mjadzelics. Instead, he hid himself behind a socially acceptable mask, until he revealed his malicious and determined intent.
“The man I fell in love with never existed,” Mjadzelics concluded. “He manipulated me and that man who died today in prison was a stranger to me. I never loved him, he just put on a character.”
Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images
The post Ian Watkins’ Ex-Girlfriend ‘Shocked’ at His Death, but Also ‘Surprised It Didn’t Happen Sooner’ appeared first on VICE.
