News

Victim speaks out about sexual abuse

Published

9 years ago

November 13, 2014

CARMARTHENSHIRE girl Annabelle Forest was just seven years old when she was inducted into a twisted sex cult by her own mother; an experience she writes about it in The Devil on the Door Step: My Escape from a Satanic Sex Cult. Annabelle, who now has two children and a husband, says: “When I look at my daughter and feel my heart swell, it defies all my understanding that there are people like my own mother in this world – a woman capable of harming her own flesh and blood in the way she harmed me.”

At the age of seven, Annabelle was woken up at night to watch her mother, Jacqueline Marling perform a sex act on a man named Colin Batley, and was told “I will have you when your periods start.” Batley was the leader of their church and ‘ruled the cult with an iron will’, with his warped ideology based on Aleister Crowley’s Book of Law. He would control Annabelle and her mother’s lives, not letting them do things such as take photographs, or let their grandparents stay the night because it was ‘against the Church rules.’ He even told her that she could not look him directly in the eyes or she would go directly to the Abyss, where she would endure a lifetime of suffering.

If she forgot, she would be shouted at by him saying: “Can you see the devil in there? He can see you.” At the age of eleven, Batley raped her after she came in from playing on a bouncy castle with her friends, saying: “I told you I’d have you.” He manipulated and tricked her into thinking she had to go through a series of ‘tests’ in which she had to do as she was told.

Once he had finished with her, he’d say: “The Gods are pleased with you” or: “You passed this test.” He called himself ‘Prince Priest’, saying she was the chosen one. He told her of ‘The ways of the Scarlet woman’, who would be the wife of Prince Priest and bring glory of the stars into the hearts of man. Three years later, at the age of 14, she was forced to perform a sex act of Batley with her mother and forced to have sex with a boy the same age as her who had learning difficulties, which her mother filmed for Batley.

The events led her to attempting to take her own life, where she says: “Dying felt like the answer.” She took 24 paracetamol tablets and went to sleep, but it did not work. Batley told her that she lived because the Gods were protecting her. At 18 years of age, Annabelle fell pregnant with Batley’s child conceived through rape, which he denied was him and tried to make her abort.

Annabelle’s mother told her: “You want to try keeping your legs crossed a bit more.” However, Batley later changed his mind and told her she would be a murderer if she rejected a child from the Gods. After having her baby, Emily in February 2008, she was forced into prostitution in Bristol by Batley and her mother, and was told: “Your name up here is Camilla”, and had to text Batley after every person she’d ‘had’, and later being told she should become an ‘all-round whore where she should offer a wider range of services.

Annabelle managed to escape and managed to run to the police, where she revealed she had been forced to sleep with over 1,800 men. In March 2011, former Tesco security worker, Colin Batley of Kidwelly, was jailed indefinitely after a judge described him as dangerous and condemned his role as ‘ruler of a sick little kingdom’, with her mother, Jacqueline Marling being jailed in 2011 for a minimum of 12 years. Annabelle describes in detail what happened to her through her story, which proves how her strength and courage helped her to heal and find justice, and has said that if her book makes one person think or saves one person’s life, it has been worth it.

Business

Largest Welsh port appoints communications and marketing director

Published

2 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE Port of Milford Haven has announced that Anna Malloy has been appointed as its first Communications and Marketing Director.

Anna is appointed to the Senior Management Team and this new role will be pivotal to the delivery of the Port’s long-term growth and diversification agenda and in ensuring that its obligations to coastal communities, future generations and to nature are honoured.

Tom Sawyer, CEO of the Port of Milford Haven, congratulated Anna and said: “Anna has a key role to play in our future and it’s doubly lovely to see ‘port-grown-talent’ flourish and for colleagues to progress up through our organisation.”

Anna will lead across the public affairs, marketing, sustainability, media relations, and community relations activities. She will therefore play a central role in the development of new and existing partnerships, including the Celtic Freeport, the Milford Haven Energy Cluster and the Celtic Collection; sitting alongside the delivery of major projects like Milford Waterfront and the Pembroke Dock Renewables Terminal.

“This is such an exciting opportunity. I am proud to be joining the Senior Management Team and look forward to delivering our ambitious strategy,” commented Anna Malloy, Communications and Marketing Director.

She added: “The Port of Milford Haven is playing a key role in the transition of South-West Wales’ economy to a decarbonised future. A beautiful place, with great people, that I am privileged to call my home.”

Community

First deadlines met following enforcement action at landfill site

Published

4 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE first set of deadlines for the completion of actions to tackle the ongoing odour issues at Withyhedge Landfill in Pembrokeshire have been met, one week on following the issuing of further enforcement action by Natural Resources Wales (NRW).

NRW issued site operator Resources Management UK Ltd (RML) with a further Regulation 36 Enforcement Notice on Thursday 18 April.

This outlined a series of actions to be completed by specified deadlines to address the ongoing odour and landfill gas emission issues at the site.

During the latest site inspection which took place yesterday (Thursday 25 April), NRW was able to confirm that three actions have been completed – two ahead of the imposed deadlines.

The operator has installed 24 pin wells, which have been driven into the waste in the lower section of the cell identified as causing the odour issues (Cell 8). These have also been connected to the landfill gas extraction system.

Capping material has been placed over the same area of the cell and welded to the basal liner to encapsulate gas in this area, allowing for extraction by the pin wells and four horizontal gas wells, which were previously installed.

While progress is being made, NRW officers detected strong landfill gas odours during an offsite assessment on Wednesday (24 April) in Poyston Cross and Crundale. Weather conditions this week appear to have led to a wider spread of landfill gas to surrounding areas, not solely linked to wind direction.

NRW odour assessments follow a set route around the landfill, with designated survey spots, identified to enable consistency of assessment and reporting. This is essential to ensure the regulatory and enforcement responses where there is offsite odour attributed to the landfill is robust.

The remaining Regulation 36 Notice actions will require significant effort by RML to ensure they are completed on time and NRW continues to closely monitor progress.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive of NRW, met with representatives from NRW’s South West Industry Regulation Team and Pembrokeshire County Council during a visit to Pembrokeshire on Thursday 25 April.

Clare Pillman, Chief Executive, Natural Resources Wales, said: “While visiting the area surrounding Withyhedge Landfill with our regulatory team and partners from Pembrokeshire County Council this week, I was able to see and hear for myself just what people living and working in these communities have had to endure as a result of the odour issues from the site.

“What they have been experiencing is unacceptable and our officers have been working tirelessly alongside colleagues at Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator gets this under control as quickly as possible. While it was clear that a lot of work has been done on site, there is still more to do to ensure they address all the actions set out in the enforcement notice.

“We want to make sure that happens, and are exploring every option together with Pembrokeshire County Council to ensure the operator works quickly to resolve the issues which are clearly affecting the quality of life of people in these communities.”

Huwel Manley, Head of South West Operations, said: “While we are reassured that action is being carried out by the operators at Withyhedge Landfill with a sense of urgency, we are continuing our regulatory presence on site to ensure the operator’s focus remains on tackling the issues that will address the continuing odour issues being experienced by surrounding communities.

“We will be closely monitoring progress over the coming days and weeks to ensure the operator complies with all the actions set out in Notice by 14 May. If they are not met, we will pursue additional enforcement action where appropriate.”

NRW requests that instances of odour from the landfill continue to be reported via this dedicated form: https://bit.ly/reportasmellwithyhedge or by calling 0300 065 3000.

Please report odours at the time of them being experienced, rather than historically. Reporting odours in a timely manner will help guide the work of partners more effectively, particularly in the further development of air quality monitoring.

These photos taken on 16 April and 25 April show the progress of capping works on cell 8. Pin wells are visible in both images. These have been connected to the landfill gas extraction system and are extracting gas from the waste mass.

Community

Milford Haven’s war memorial is 100 years old today

Published

4 hours ago

April 26, 2024

Tom Sinclair

THE Milford Haven War Memorial, a significant landmark commemorating the fallen heroes of World Wars and subsequent conflicts, marks its 100th anniversary today.

The memorial, which was inaugurated on April 26, 1924 by the Venerable the Archdeacon of St Davids, remains a poignant symbol of sacrifice and hope for peace.

Constructed from 1923 to 1924, the memorial consists of a striking assembly of pink granite and white marble statues that were sculpted in Italy.

Representing the Army, Navy, and Air Force, these life-size statues stand on an unpolished three-step plinth below a main pedestal. A soldier faces west and a sailor east, with an airman atop the central column, surveying the skies.

The names and inscriptions of the fallen are carved into the polished granite shaft, meticulously supervised by surveyor J.P. Morgan with contractor E. Jones of Llanybydder.

Located on Hamolton Terrace with views over the Milford Haven waterway, the memorial is a freestanding structure in an external, roadside setting. It features a serviceman/woman sculpture in marble and Portland stone, set on a concrete base surrounded by railings. Inscribed plaques honour those who served in the First and Second World Wars, the Korean War, and the conflict in Iraq from 2003 to 2009.

The memorial lists the names of 239 men who perished in the First World War on its polished grey granite faces. The Second World War claimed 157 lives from this community, whose names are recorded on bronze plaques around the base. Notably, the memorial also honours one serviceman who fell during the Korean War and another who was killed in Iraq in 2007.

The Milford Haven War Memorial stands not only as a historical monument but also as an enduring reminder of the costs of war and the community’s ongoing commitment to peace.

As the town reflects on a century of remembrance, the hope remains that future generations will continue to cherish and learn from the lessons of the past.