Vampire fanatic detained after dumping dead deers and lambs outside New Forest churches

Vampire fanatic detained after dumping dead deers and lambs outside New Forest churches Benjamin Lewis stole and killed lambs from local farms before placing them at churches - Bookmark A man fascinated with vampires and satanism who placed deer heads and slaughtered lambs with inverted crosses at churches across the New Forest has been detained under the Mental Health Act. Benjamin Lewis, of Totton, Southampton, previously pleaded guilty to five counts of religiously aggravated harassment and two counts of theft of lambs between February and August 2025. Sentencing the 48-year-old, who appeared by videolink at Southampton Crown Court, to be detained in hospital with restrictions, Judge William Mousley KC said: “These offences taken together would otherwise have justified substantial sentences of imprisonment.” Laura Deuxberry, prosecuting, told the court that lambs had been stolen from two small farms in the local Hampshire area. Lewis had killed them by slitting their throats before dumping their bodies at four churches as well as at a mental health facility where he had previously been treated. She said that in February 2025, a deer’s head was found with an inverted wooden cross at St Theresa’s Church in Totton followed by a lamb being placed on a light fixture below a statue of Mary along with another inverted cross. Ms Deuxberry said that Canon Simon Treloar had initially attempted to make light of the first incident by telling the media that he would have “preferred sausages” and said that sausages had later been left at the church as well as the animal bodies. The prosecutor added that children had seen the dead lamb and been “very distressed as a result”. She added that Canon Treloar told police that he believed the perpetrator had targeted the church during the Easter period and he felt “targeted and disturbed”. At Christ Church in Emery Down, Lewis also dumped a deer without a head on one date in February followed on a later date by a deer’s head being placed in the church’s pulpit on top of a cross which had been moved from the altar. Ms Deuxberry said that blood staining had forced the church to dispose of the cross. Lewis also targeted St Peter’s Church in Bramshaw, where a dead lamb was placed on flagpole with a tarot card next to it and a deer’s head “crawling with maggots” was placed on a pew on a later date. At Christ’s Church in Colbury, a lamb was placed on a tree stump with an inverted stone cross next to it, Ms Deuxberry said. The prosecutor said a deer’s head with an inverted cross was put on the gates of the Anchor House mental health facility in Totton where Lewis had previously been treated. Ms Deuxberry said there had been a number of previous incidents dating back five years that the prosecution were not pursuing. Lewis was also convicted of religious harassment in 2003 in the first case of its kind in the country. The prosecutor said that when Lewis was arrested deer blood was found in the boot of his car, with mixed animal blood in the vehicle. She added that when his home was searched by police, officers found satanic symbols and ritual notes as well as sketches of vampires and “concerning books about vampires and how best to kill humans”. A suitcase containing inverted crosses and images of “people cutting and sucking blood from each other” was also found. Ms Deuxberry said the members of the public who had found the dead animal parts had been “distressed and disturbed”, and the owner of some of the stolen lambs had considered moving from her farm where she had lived all of her life. She said by targeting churches, Lewis had caused upset to congregations and added: “It’s meant to be a place of sanctuary but unfortunately these incidents caused them to be fearful of going to their sanctuaries.” Consultant forensic psychiatrist Dr Gauruv Malhan told the court that Lewis had been diagnosed with severe autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder as well as mixed personality disorder and a mild learning disability. He said Lewis had “fantastical thinking patterns” and had “limited insight” into his condition. He added that his autism dated from birth and at the age of 13 had placed a dead frog on a cross inside a church. Andrew Price, defending, said: “He is very sorry and wants it to be known and clear that he recognises that he has done wrong, that he recognises the situation and circumstances of the victims.” Lewis told the court after he was sentenced: “I want to just apologise to the victims because they said they were worried about me if I was to come out, I do not want people to worry about me.”