The stepfather of Ian Watkins has spoken about his fear that his son will be remembered as a "Jimmy Savile character".

Yesterday (November 26), the former singer of the now-defunct Welsh band pleaded guilty to 13 sexual offences, including two of attempting to rape a baby. Two female co-defendants, who cannot be named, also admitted to numerous child sex offences. Read the full story here and here.

Watkins' stepfather, church minister John Davies told the Daily Mail: " Ian was loved, cherished, encouraged and nurtured. We did our best. He was a normal happy young lad who grew up in the Valleys in a loving family which had no more problems than anybody else has."

He added: "I don’t know how this will turn out. I don’t know whether he will be remembered for years to come as somebody infamous and evil – like a sort of Jimmy Savile character. I hope not.

"I hope something will happen to change that perception of people. Time will tell. We’re going to do our best to support him and hope for the best, that’s all we can do."

Speaking about his family's distress at the charges read out in court in Cardiff yesterday, Davies continued: "It was devastating. We thought, 'there must be some mistake here. There must be some reason for this. There’s no way that this is true. ..We just left the magistrates’ court in a state of absolute despair and shock."

Yesterday, former Lostprophets guitarist Lee Gaze expressed his relief to the swift resolution of his bandmate's trial. Gaze said that the band could now get "closure" on the ordeal and thanked fans for their support.

Writing on Twitter, Gaze put: "That was over quick. Thank fuck" He then added in a separate tweet: "Thanks for the kind words. At least there is closure now."

Earlier this year (October), the band announced that they would split following Watkins' arrest.