Fears ‘Satanists’ have returned to New Forest village after lamb found with slit throat

Fears are growing that “Satanists” have returned to the New Forest after a lamb was found with its throat slit.

Villagers said they are concerned that individuals who terrorised a beauty spot with occult-style animal killings have returned to the area after the 10-week-old animal was dumped at a pond.

Farmer Patrick Langdown, 66, said an agister alerted him to the lamb after a member of the public made the grim discovery two miles from his home in Bramshaw, a picturesque village in the national park in Hampshire.

Mr Langdown added he was “very shocked” to realise it was one of his.

Bramshaw has been plagued by mysterious occult-style attacks for the last four years and in January, animal hearts surrounded by candles were found at a beauty spot as part of an apparent ritual.

A few weeks earlier, a local reverend raised the prospect of “witchcraft” after his church was targeted in “upsetting” attacks.

Occult markings

A dead cat was found hanging from the church’s flagpole, a dead fox was deliberately placed on the doorstep and in 2019, vandals sprayed the same church with phallic and Satanic symbols.

That same year, police launched an investigation after sheep and cattle were found stabbed and sprayed with occult markings in the space of five days within a few miles of each other in the area.

Mr Langdown said everybody who grazes livestock in the area is “worried” and he can’t sleep at night in fear of another incident.

He said: “We come from an industry which provides animals for meat, but this was quite horrible.

“There’s been weird things happening in the forest for a while now, with the dead sheep and the cats on poles and all those bits and pieces.

“I did have five sheep killed last year, and their skins were left behind, and in another field, some of my sheep were let out and got poisoned by rhododendron plants.

“I’ve got sheep all over the place, but these ones need to be close to home, so I can’t move them somewhere else.

“It leaves a bitter taste. You don’t sleep. Any bang, any noise, you wonder what is going on. One day, hopefully, they'll make a mistake.”

‘Emotional upset’

Mr Langdown said he had been made aware of a recent incident in nearby Beaulieu involving a dead lamb with a bible placed on it.

He added: “We [commoners] are all worried, but there is nothing you can do. You can’t police them 24/7.”

Mr Langdown said he had given up trying to report the incident to Hampshire Police after being left on hold for over an hour.

Andrew Parry-Norton, Chair of the Commoners Defence Association, said: “From a CDA point of view, the attacks are horrific, but it also creates shockwaves throughout the commoning community.

“It is not only a financial loss, but the emotional upset it causes. We all worry about our stock as it is, but this is mindless.”

He urged the public to be vigilant and report any suspicious incidents to the police.