Vampire cultist sentenced over church carcasses

A man with a fascination with vampires, who stole lambs and left the carcasses along with occult symbols at churches, has been sentenced to detention in hospital.

Dead deer and lambs were discovered tied to a flagpole, in a pulpit or otherwise displayed at churches and at an NHS mental health office in Hampshire in 2025, Southampton Crown Court heard.

Benjamin Lewis, 48, of Totton, previously pleaded guilty to stealing lambs on two occasions and admitted five charges of religiously aggravated harassment.

Imposing a hospital order with restrictions, Judge William Mousley KC said Lewis was likely to be detained for a "significant period" of time.

Lewis had autism and personality disorders, and saw himself as belonging to a vampire cult, psychiatrist Dr Gauruv Malhan told the court.

The defendant had progressed from harming animals as a child to slaughtering stolen lambs and displaying their body parts, the court heard.

During his assessment, Lewis tried to attack the psychiatrist and was restrained and put in seclusion, Dr Malhan said.

"There is a concern his risk will escalate from harming animals to humans as well," the doctor told the judge.

In February 2025, a headless deer was found at Christ Church, Emery Down, followed two weeks later by a deer's head in the pulpit, the court heard.

The following month, Lewis left a deer's head on gates at Anchor House, an NHS facility involved in his psychiatric treatment.

In the same month, the rector of St Peter's Church, Bramshaw, found a dead lamb tied to a church flagpole along with a tarot card.

Months later, a decomposed deer's head was found on a pew inside the church.

In April, several lambs were stolen from a farm and a smallholding nearby.

Some of those were later found dead, including at Christ Church, Colbury, and at St Theresa's Church, Totton, where "distressed" children saw the carcass, the court was told.

At Lewis' home in Kinross Road, police found "items referencing death and killing", as well as Satanic symbols and objects relating to vampires, prosecutors said.

He was arrested in May 2025 and then again in September after leaving a further deer's head on display.

Lewis appeared for the sentencing via video "because of concerns about coming to court and how that might affect him," the judge said.

The defendant told the court: "I just wanted to apologise to the victims because they said they would be concerned about me if I was to come out."