Label owner who signed Lostprophets speaks about aftermath of Ian Watkins’ child sex crimes

nme.com:

Lostprophets has spoken out about the aftermath of Ian Watkins’ child sex crimes, and discussed how it signalled the end of her career.Julie Weir signed the Welsh rock band to Visible Noise after working with the members for over a decade before Watkins’ crimes came to light.The disgraced former singer is currently serving a 29-year sentence, with a further six years on licence, in HMP Wakefield.Watkins was jailed in December 2013 after pleading guilty to 13 sex offences at Cardiff Crown Court, including the attempted rape of a baby, conspiring to rape a child, three counts of sexual assault involving children, seven involving taking, making or possessing indecent images of children and one of possessing an extreme pornographic image involving a sex act on an animal.So far, the former singer has served over a decade behind bars and is eligible for parole in 2031.

Back in 2019, he was discovered to be hiding a phone, which led to an extension of his sentence.Now, Weir has appeared on the UPRAWR podcast, and recalled how she discovered Watkins’ crimes.“I got a call from my manager and I could tell it wasn’t good.

We were just about to start a big project with the band and then things spiralled from that. It was a long process really,” Weir explained (via The Star).“Speaking to the lads, you would imagine people would know and that it was in plain sight.

But a lot of things were happening without anyone knowing. Everyone is a really straight down-the-line person in that band and that’s the thing.