'Sex cult' leader's move to an open prison is blocked

A SERIAL rapist and paedophile who ran a warped sex cult in a close-knit Welsh community will not be transferred to an open prison after the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) defied a recommendation from the Parole Board, it can be revealed.

- ROB HARRIES

Colin Batley.

(DIMITRIS LEGAKIS)

Colin Batley was jailed in 2011 following a trial at Swansea Crown Court which ended with him being found guilty of three indecent assaults, causing prostitution for personal gain, causing a child to have sex and inciting a child to have sex, and 11 counts of rape.

Batley, who was 48 when he was jailed, had run a "black magic sex cult" from a house in Clos yr Onnen in the Carmarthenshire town of Kidwelly. He had moved to the area from London in the 1990s and was the selfappointed "high priest" of the cult.

During his trial he was described as "evil and manipulative" and even smiled and laughed as his convictions were confirmed in court. He was handed an indeterminate prison sentence with a minimum term of 11 years.