Few will mourn the loss of paedophile rock star Ian Watkins after his murder inside Wakefield Prison.

Yet the Lostprophets singer’s death has heaped fresh torment on the one person in the world who never gave up on him – his mother Elaine.

Pictured together here in happier times, Elaine, now 72, was left sickened and bewildered as the full horror of her son’s depraved crimes emerged before he was jailed for a string of child sex offences.

Friends described how the devoted and once-proud mother – who was already struggling with ill health – never recovered from the revelations which placed Watkins alongside Jimmy Savile as one of Britain’s most notorious paedophiles.

She split from her Baptist minister husband John Davies, 65, and is rarely seen in public – living a reclusive life for many years in her run-down terraced house in Pontypridd, south Wales.

One neighbour told the Daily Mail: ‘She lives there on her own, you never see her but the blinds twitch from time to time.

‘People in the street know she’s the mother of Ian Watkins but she lives there like a hermit – I’m not surprised after what he did.’

Mother-of-three Elaine is reported to have continued to provide support for her son after he was jailed for 29 years in December 2013 for his crimes which included the attempted rape of a fan’s baby daughter.

It is believed she wrote to Watkins regularly and visited when she could as he served his sentence 230 miles away in the prison known as ‘Monster Mansion’.

Ian Watkins pictured with his mother Diane, who stood by her son after he was jailed for 29 years in December 2013

Convicted paedophile Ian Watkins who was killed last week at HMP Wakefield

Sources revealed how Elaine lived in constant fear that Watkins would be targeted by fellow inmates after he was stabbed in a previous prison attack in August 2023.

It was on Saturday that she received the news she had been dreading when police arrived at the property – knocking at neighbouring houses when at first they were unable to track her down.

Watkins, 48, reportedly had his throat cut as inmates left their cells at the high-security Category A prison in West Yorkshire.

Elaine has a daughter who lives in Aberystwyth and is three years younger than Watkins.

The children were aged five and two when their biological father, who had suffered epilepsy, died suddenly.

Elaine, who went on to have another son, married Rev Davies three years later. They were a couple for more than 25 years before their break-up following Watkins’ conviction.

Despite the split, locals said Rev Davies – who lives two miles away in a three-bedroomed semi-detached house in the village of Cilfynydd – continues to care for his former wife.

A neighbour of his said: ‘There’s no one around here who will say a good word about Ian Watkins and some people are saying he got what he deserved.

‘But I feel sorry for Elaine, she was a good mother whose life was ruined by her son. It’s sad for her.’

Prisoners Rashid Gedel, 25, whose name was given in court as Rico Gedel (left), and Samuel Dodsworth, 43, have been charged with murdering Watkins at  Wakefield jail

It was Reverend Davies who revealed the family’s torment when they discovered for the first time the ‘heinous’ crimes against children that Watkins was accused of during an early court appearance back in 2013.

He said at the time: ‘When the CPS spoke and the clerk read out the allegations, Elaine and I just sat there and our jaws dropped. We could not believe what we were hearing.

‘It was devastating. We thought, ‘There must be some mistake here. There must be some reason for this. There’s no way that this is true’.

‘We just left the magistrates’ court in a state of absolute despair and shock.’

Rev Davies said he and his wife had desperately tried to work out what they could have done to change things.

He said: ‘It’s the first thing a parent asks themselves – where did we go wrong? What happened?

‘Although no family is perfect, there is nothing we can put our finger on. This has just horrified all of us.

‘This is so hard. It’s overwhelming. It has affected every aspect of our lives.’

He added: ‘Ian was loved, cherished, encouraged and nurtured. We did our best.

‘He was a normal happy young lad who grew up in the Valleys in a loving family which had no more problems than anybody else has.

‘I don’t know how this will turn out. I don’t know whether he will be remembered for years to come as somebody infamous and evil – like a sort of Jimmy Savile character. I hope not.

‘I hope something will happen to change that perception of people. Time will tell. We’re going to do our best to support him and hope for the best, that’s all we can do.’

The Welsh musician had been serving 29 years for a string of child sex offences, including the attempted rape of a fan’s baby daughter

Watkins performing in 2012 in Brisbane, Australia

When Watkins was sentenced for his crimes at Cardiff Crown Court in December that year the couple were too distressed to go to court.

But an angry Rev Davies said: ‘I could cheerfully spend an hour knocking him around a cell.’

He added: ‘There are things I may well want to say to him. These offences are so horrific. They are the most heinous crimes. Every one of us is completely and utterly devastated.’

The family said they were focusing their sympathy on Watkins’ victims but said they would stand by him and hoped he could be rehabilitated in time.

His step-father said: ‘We chose not to come to court. It is far too distressing for Elaine and for me – my heart aches for her.’

‘Ian had a very strong relationship with his mother. It is a very deep bond. My heart aches for any individual who has been drawn into this and been affected by it. And only time will tell who those victims are.’

The family said that, as a youngster, Watkins had been encouraged with his school work and passion for singing – and he excelled at both.

He achieved top grades at Hawthorn High School in Pontypridd, before going on to gain first class honours in a graphic design degree at the University of Wales.

Watkins practised music in his parents’ garage with his friends which led to local gigs and, eventually, international fame with Lostprophets going on to sell 3.5 million albums.

As his career was taking off, Elaine fell ill with kidney disease. The singer remained close to his mother and returned to live with her regularly throughout his adult life.

She underwent a kidney transplant in 2006 after a seven-year wait and also suffered from osteoporosis and arthritis which are linked to coeliac disease which she has had all her life.

Watkins went on to become an organ donor and an ambassador for young people for the Kidney Wales Foundation.

Watkins was a rock superstar before his shameful downfall. In 2010 the band was at the height of its success, with their last two albums going to number one in the UK charts 

While the charismatic frontman – who is once said to have dated Fearne Cotton – appeared in many ways an archetypal rock’n’roll pin-up – the band always maintained a squeaky-clean image.

Since their late teens they embraced a movement called ‘straight edge’ – a subculture of the hardcore punk scene that abstained from alcohol, cigarettes and drugs, as a reaction against the stereotypical rock-star lifestyle.

Rev Davies said: ‘He was emphatic as he was growing up through his teenage years that he would never drink, never do drugs. That’s what he told us.

‘Whether that was to reassure us as parents, I don’t know. But obviously something went wrong in later years.’

Watkins began experimenting with drugs, including crystal meth, and developed an intensifying obsession with online pornography.

He used his fame to manipulate and control others – grooming female fans with young children so he could convince them to let him abuse their babies.

During his sentencing, Mr Justice Royce said the case broke ‘new ground’ and ‘plunged into new depths of depravity’.

He said Watkins showed ‘a complete lack of remorse’ for crimes that would lead ‘any decent person’ to experience ‘shock, revulsion and incredulity’.

Explaining why the family had not given up on Watkins, Rev Davies said: ‘The police said he wouldn’t think twice about hanging you or anyone else out to dry, why are you bothering, why would you want to stand by him?

‘I said, because he is my stepson. Because it gives me an opportunity to seek some healing in a very broken family.’

Now, as two men appear in court charged with her son’s murder, Elaine is facing a new ordeal – her son’s funeral which is expected to be held in Wales.

When the day comes, she will be one of the few standing at the graveside and truly grieving in the way only a mother can for her dead son.