Former Lostprophets stars would have killed frontman Ian Watkins if they had realised he was a child molester.

Watkins, 36, was convicted of a catalogue of sickening abuse last year (13), including the attempted rape of a baby, and he was sentenced to 35 years behind bars for his crimes.

His bandmates initially hoped the allegations were "all a mistake", but they were horrified when Watkins pleaded guilty, and now they have insisted they would have reacted violently if they had known about the singer's abuse before he was arrested.

Guitarist Lee Gaze tells BBC Newsbeat, "How could you know? How would you know? Who would disclose such a thing to five people who have eight children? You just wouldn't because they would be killed on the spot."

He went on to add that the rest of the band had grown so distant from Watkins that he believes they would have split up regardless of the abuse case, adding, "He was doing his own thing. That just grew worse over the years, the more he was using drugs. He could be in the same city as me and I wouldn't hang out with him, even if we weren't playing shows."

Lostprophets split in the aftermath of Watkins' arrest, and the five remaining bandmates - Gaze, Mike Lewis, Stuart Richardson, Jamie Oliver and Luke Johnson - formed a new group, No Devotion.