Transcript of fan's conversation with former Lostprophets frontman read out to shocked court before sentencing

The paedophile rock star Ian Watkins spoke to a female fan from prison the day after admitting two counts of attempted baby rape and said he was going to issue a statement when he was sentenced saying it had all been "mega lolz".

A transcript of the conversation was read out to a shocked and silent Cardiff crown court on Wednesday as the former Lostprophets frontman was being sentenced.

Christopher Clee QC, prosecuting, told the judge that Watkins had a conversation from Park Prison with a woman named Samantha on 27 November.

Watkins denied being a paedophile and expressed exasperation at the way people had reacted to his guilty pleas.

He said: "I'm going to put out a statement on the 18th just to say it was mega lolz. I do not know what everybody is getting so freaked out about."

Watkins explains in the conversation that he was faced with a choice before pleading guilty. "It was like either I go up there and say: 'Come on it was not that bad. Nobody got hurt,'" or "try to win them over with my charm" and end up saying: "I was off my head and do not remember anything."

Clee said that in a second conversation with the same woman the following day he claimed a lot of what he had said in online conversations was "bullshit chat that I did to shock when I was off my head".

He insisted that no baby was ever harmed and said he was "going to release a statement and stuff".

Told by the woman that what he had planned to say might not be a good idea, he agreed, saying: "It is just lol now."

The phrase "mega lolz" was used by the Lostprophets on some of their T-shirts. The group also performed in front of a backdrop saying MEGA LOLZ! on the main stage of the Reading festival in 2010.

Clee also detailed for the court the specific images found on the singer's computers. Of a total of 90 child abuse images, 24 fell into the most severe category. He also possessed 22 separate bestiality images.