The jury in the trial of two prisoners accused of murdering Ian Watkins was discharged for legal reasons on Friday, and Mr Justice Hilliard said the case will have to be re-tried. The judge told jurors: “Very reluctantly, I’m going to discharge you and the case will have to be re-tried.”

Hilliard added: “That’s disappointing for you and for everyone.” Watkins, the disgraced former Lostprophets frontman, was stabbed to death by Rico Gedel in his cell at high-security HMP Wakefield last October. He was 44. Watkins had been serving a 29-year sentence for child sex offences when he died.

The discharge at Leeds Crown Court ended this stage of proceedings after the court heard allegations that Gedel carried out the fatal attack and Samuel Dodsworth helped dispose of the weapon. Prosecutors said Dodsworth knew the assault was going to happen and assisted Gedel by getting rid of the makeshift knife. Both men have denied murdering Watkins and denied possessing a knife in prison.

Gedel told the court he hated being housed with sex offenders at Wakefield and had threatened to hurt “any number of paedophiles” if he was not moved. He said he chose Watkins largely because of “proximity” after being placed in the cell next to him the night before. Gedel also said “part of him” wanted to kill Watkins, but another part did not, adding: “Sometimes what your heart wants is not what your brain wants.”

Dodsworth rejected the prosecution case and said he played no part in the attack. He told the court he was “in the wrong place at the wrong time” and said he had tried to return the knife before panicking at the sight of an injured Watkins and throwing it into a bin. After walking out of the cell, Gedel handed the makeshift knife to Dodsworth, the court heard, and Dodsworth threw it away.

Watkins was jailed in December 2013 for 29 years with a further six years on licence after admitting a string of sex offences. In 2019, he had another 10 months added to his sentence after he was caught with a banned mobile phone. He had already been attacked a few times inside Wakefield over the years because of the nature of his crimes.

The immediate issue now is the retrial Hilliard ordered, which means the case will return to court even after a day that ended without a verdict. For the prison system, the details heard in court underline the dangerous climate that had surrounded Watkins for years inside Wakefield, and the dispute over whether Dodsworth helped or merely froze in panic will be tested all over again.