‘We get strange things when it’s a full moon’

CHURCH FOUNDER: Lee Banks carved into their flesh. He discovered all their bodies lying near a primitive, blood- stained stone altar and wooden stake.

Mudge seemed to blame other local farmers for the demonic atrocities, hinting at an entire underground community of Satanists.

He said: “We are absolutely devastated by this. It is disgusting. We don’t know how they’re doing it. But they must be people with dogs and have got to be used to handling sheep.”

Meanwhile, a spate of horse mutilations in Cornwall between 2012 and 2013 were also attributed to Devil enthusiasts.

The corpse of one pony, again discovered on the desolate Dartmoor fells, was located in a ring of fire during a full moon – its right ear had been sliced off, its tongue hacked free, and its eyes gouged out… all while the poor beast was still alive.

At the time Devon and Cornwall Police denounced the gruesome scene as “ritualistic”, while Karla McKechnie, Dartmoor’s Livestock Protection Officer, added: “I suspect it’s witches or Devil worshippers, and it’s almost certain that more than one person was involved.

“We do get some strange things happening from time to time – normally when it’s a full moon.

“I’ve come across strange circles in the ground, and boulders used as altars.”

If you thought the Church of the Devil was an ‘ underground’ movement, think again.

Standing at the centre of this dubious lifestyle is The UK Church of Rational Satanism, which was founded by Wolverhampton’s Lee

MUTILATED: Victims of dark rituals

Banks, who is determined to bring the dark arts into the mainstream.

While it does NOT endorse the sacrifice of humans or animals, they do place an emphasis on black magic.

Banks said: “We have a growing number of people following us in the UK. You could be sitting right next to one of us on the train without even knowing it.”

Looking at Banks’s comments in his book, Modern Satanism, it’s clear he believes the group is gaining real momentum right here in Britain.

He comments: “It’s now time for Satan to rise once again, the true ruler of the world.

“Magic, undefiled wisdom and rationality will once again take hold of the satanic movement, and rational Satanism will be re- born.

“And together we will drive the pestilence out and lay the re- awakened gods to rest.”