(CelebrityAccess) — Jailed former rock star Ian Watkins refused to reveal to the court the identities of the owner of a cellphone he claims he was forced to hold while in prison.
According to the BBC, the former Lostprophets frontman says two men entered his cell at HMP Wakefield in March 2018 and enjoined him to hold a phone for them.
The phone was discovered on Watkins after police received information alleging he was in possession of the illicit electronic device.
The BBC reported that police conducted an unsuccessful search of his cell, but said that Watkins later surrendered the phone which had been secreted on his person.
Watkins, who is 42, denied being guilty of one charge of possessing a mobile phone in prison.
Watkins told the court that he was threatened with death if he revealed the phone or its true owner.
“Once you snitch in jail it just brings a world of trouble down on you,” he told the court, according to the BBC.
Watkins was convicted in 2013 of multiple sexual offenses against children and possession of child pornography. He was sentenced to 29 years in prison, with eligibility to apply for parole after serving two-thirds of his prison term, followed by six years of supervised release.
