LOSTPROPHETS guitarist Lee Gaze has spoken out 13 years after singer Ian Watkins was convicted of vile child sex offences – calling the end of the band "painful".
The musician, 50, shared a post where he described the band's infamous demise as the "ultimate punishment"
The Welsh band's former frontman Watkins was jailed for 35 years in 2013 for 13 sex offences against children.
Gaze took to his X account as he reflected on the past and shared his heartache, writing: "It's been 13 years since my band ended in the most unimaginable circumstances and it's still painful to think about.
"Things could've been so different."
He added: "I don't talk about it much, but I put everything into that band, and it should've lasted a lifetime.
"I never really wronged anyone my whole life so it seemed like the ultimate punishment."
His followers took to the comment section to share their support for the star.
One wrote: "I'm really sorry you're still carrying that pain. Everything should have been different. But fate is a cruel joke. You didn't deserve it. I think a lot about what the band would be like now."
He replied to the fan, saying: "Yeh. Hard to make sense of it all, even after all these years."
This person posted: "I wish you a big success with your new project. Thanks for the music and memories."
Another added: "I always say to any band I record if LP comes up in conversation, what that guy did was unspeakably evil, but I've got so much sympathy for everyone else in that (your) band – he ruined many other people's lives and careers instantly, and it's never spoken about."
Vile paedophile Watkins was jailed in 2013 after a shocking trial for offences including the attempted rape of a baby.
He changed his plea to guilty at the beginning of the trial and admitted to trying to rape a fan's baby and plotting to rape another infant.
Watkins filmed himself committing sex acts on a baby boy the day after Lostprophets' final album Weapons was released.
The fiend claimed at Cardiff Crown Court he could not remember the sickening attacks because he was a "heavy user" of crystal meth at the time.
A year after being placed behind bars, Watkins was refused the right to appeal against his 35-year sentence.
Lord Justice Christopher Pitchford said his offences were of "such shocking depravity" that the long sentence was called for.
He said the original trial judge had correctly gauged the seriousness of his offending and that the term was not "manifestly unjust".
In 2019, Watkins had a further 10 months added to his sentence after he was convicted of having a banned mobile phone in prison, which he used to communicate with scores of warped female fans from his cell.
He will be eligible for parole after serving two-thirds of the prison term.
In August 2023, Watkins was taken to hospital after he was taken hostage by three other lags, before being ''roughed up'' and stabbed.
According to sources, the siege at HMP Wakefield only came to an end when a ''Tornado'' team of specially-trained riot officers hurled stun grenades into the cell, where Watkins was being held.
One source said he had been stabbed in the neck and had been taken for life-saving treatment at Leeds General Infirmary.
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