Ian Watkins' stepfather says family are 'utterly devastated'

December 19, 2013 12:23

Watkins was given a 29-year jail sentence in Cardiff Crown Court yesterday (December 18)

Ian Watkins' stepfather has said that he hopes the former Lostprophets frontman can be rehabilitated during his jail sentence on child sex charges.

Watkins was sentenced yesterday (December 18) in Cardiff Crown Court and was given a 29-year jail sentence, as well as an extended licence for six years after pleading guilty to 13 sexual offences.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Watkins' stepfather John Davies, a baptist minister, admitted he was angry at his family member, saying: "I could cheerfully spend an hour knocking him around a cell. 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."

Explaining why he and his wife, Watkins' mother, did not attend court for the sentencing. "We chose not to come to court. It is far too distressing for Elaine and for me. 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."

Discussing his hopes for Watkins' future, Davies went on to say: "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'."

During sentencing, Judge Justice Royce said that Watkins posed a "significant risk" to women and children and that he and the co-defendants had plumbed "new depths of depravity" and that the case was so extreme it "breaks new ground". He told them: "Any decent person looking at or listening to material here would experience shock, revulsion, anger and incredulity." Read the full story from the trial here.

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Beyonce shares family photos on new fan website

Singer Beyonce poses at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards in Los Angeles August 28, 2011. Beyonce and her husband, rapper Jay-Z, will welcome their first child next spring.

Credit: Reuters/Danny Moloshok

LOS ANGELES | Thu Apr 5, 2012 3:10pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - R&B superstar Beyonce gave fans some insight into her private life on Thursday with the relaunch of her website, featuring intimate snapshots of her daily routines the singer has carefully shielded from the public until now.

"This is my life, today, over the years - through my eyes. My family, my travels, my love. This is where I share with you. This will continue to grow as I do," the singer wrote on her new website.

Beyonce.com features a montage of candid shots from the singer's personal life including pictures of her on holiday, with her husband, rapper Jay-Z, and family and during her pregnancy.

One 15-second video shows the singer posing by a blue ivy tree during while pregnant, which perhaps provided the inspiration for her newborn daughter's name, Blue Ivy Carter.

"It's been a long time coming, but I finally have my own place on the web," the singer posted on her Facebook page, where she has 34 million fans.

Beyonce also took the opportunity of launching her new site to tweet her 3.5 million Twitter fans for first time.

The "Single Ladies" singer has kept her private life under wraps in the past, including getting married to Jay-Z in a shroud of secrecy in April 2008 and waiting five months after the event to debut her wedding ring.

But Beyonce, 30 and Jay-Z, 42, who were estimated to be worth $72 million by Forbes in 2011, have been slowly lifting the veil on their luxury life.

The couple released intimate pictures of Blue Ivy through social networking site Tumblr in February, shunning the popular celebrity choice of a lucrative magazine deal.

(Reporting By Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)

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Top Europe reggae festival opens, Marley family stars (Reuters)

MADRID (Reuters) – Europe's largest reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash opens its gates on Thursday in the Spanish resort of Benicassim, where over 200,000 fans are expected over 10 days of Jamaican-inspired music headlined by leading members of the Bob Marley dynasty.

This year's 18th Sunsplash pays homage to the legendary reggae musician on the 30th anniversary of his death with concerts by his wife Rita, backing singer in Bob Marley & The Wailers, and the most famous of his children including Ziggy and Stephen.

Stephen Marley will open the festival on the main stage, where Ska pioneers Toots and the Maytals and Jamaican dancehall star Mr. Vegas are also expected to play on the first night.

Over 300 bands and DJs playing reggae genres from roots to rocksteady and ragga to dub will be performing on six stages during a festival which mixes reggae music with social forums as well as African and Caribbean arts and culture.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran's Shirin Ebadi will attend Rototom's social forum, which also hosts Tobin Tax campaigner Bernard Cassen and environmental activist Vandana Shiva.

"We've got people participating from over 100 different countries, this makes us a truly global festival with a global philosopy of tolerance behind it," festival director Filippo Giunta told Reuters.

"This year we can do it knowing that the local community approves and knowing that the public are going to come. We had 160,000 last year, we are expecting over 200,000 this year," Giunta said.

Rototom Sunplash decided to move to Spain from northern Italy in 2010, after what Giunta said was a clash between the festival's ideals and the ideas of some politicians in the country.

"They accused us of promoting the use of marijuana just because of the relationship of reggae and the Rastafarian religion, which considers it to be a holy plant," Giunta said.

Rototom is a non-profit collective which donates the income from Sunsplash to charities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, attracting speakers and activists from non-government organisations as well as reggae acts from the famous to the obscure.

"We've been to great reggae festivals in France but this has the biggest line-up," said 28-year-old Mariajo, from Madrid.

"I'm going for classics like Toots and the Maytals and (reggae poet) Linton Kwesi Johnson, but I don't think we'll stay for the full 10 days. That's a lot of reggae!"

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)

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Top Europe reggae festival opens, Marley family stars

Jamaican musician David ''Ziggy'' Marley attends the opening day of the exhibit ''Bob Marley, Messenger'' at the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles May 11, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Mario Anzuoni

By Jonathan Gleave

MADRID | Thu Aug 18, 2011 8:42am EDT

MADRID (Reuters) - Europe's largest reggae festival Rototom Sunsplash opens its gates on Thursday in the Spanish resort of Benicassim, where over 200,000 fans are expected over 10 days of Jamaican-inspired music headlined by leading members of the Bob Marley dynasty.

This year's 18th Sunsplash pays homage to the legendary reggae musician on the 30th anniversary of his death with concerts by his wife Rita, backing singer in Bob Marley & The Wailers, and the most famous of his children including Ziggy and Stephen.

Stephen Marley will open the festival on the main stage, where Ska pioneers Toots and the Maytals and Jamaican dancehall star Mr. Vegas are also expected to play on the first night.

Over 300 bands and DJs playing reggae genres from roots to rocksteady and ragga to dub will be performing on six stages during a festival which mixes reggae music with social forums as well as African and Caribbean arts and culture.

Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Iran's Shirin Ebadi will attend Rototom's social forum, which also hosts Tobin Tax campaigner Bernard Cassen and environmental activist Vandana Shiva.

"We've got people participating from over 100 different countries, this makes us a truly global festival with a global philosopy of tolerance behind it," festival director Filippo Giunta told Reuters.

"This year we can do it knowing that the local community approves and knowing that the public are going to come. We had 160,000 last year, we are expecting over 200,000 this year," Giunta said.

Rototom Sunplash decided to move to Spain from northern Italy in 2010, after what Giunta said was a clash between the festival's ideals and the ideas of some politicians in the country.

"They accused us of promoting the use of marijuana just because of the relationship of reggae and the Rastafarian religion, which considers it to be a holy plant," Giunta said.

Rototom is a non-profit collective which donates the income from Sunsplash to charities in Africa, Asia and Latin America, attracting speakers and activists from non-government organisations as well as reggae acts from the famous to the obscure.

"We've been to great reggae festivals in France but this has the biggest line-up," said 28-year-old Mariajo, from Madrid.

"I'm going for classics like Toots and the Maytals and (reggae poet) Linton Kwesi Johnson, but I don't think we'll stay for the full 10 days. That's a lot of reggae!"

(Editing by Mike Collett-White)

View the original article here