A flamboyant cult leader who claimed to be a friend of the Dalai Lama was jailed for 10 years yesterday for attacking women.

Self-styled guru Michael Lyons, 52, was convicted of raping one woman and assaulting another.

He was accused of preying on beautiful and well-educated young women who came to him for spiritual guidance.

The Jamaican-born conman, better known as Dr Mohan Singh or Mo, constructed a formidable cult spanning Britain, the United States, France and India.

A three-month re-trial at Wood Green Crown Court heard he claimed to have links with the Dalai Lama and to have treated the Queen.

His followers said he had healing powers and was capable of miracles including curing cancer and improving fertility.

An inner circle of up to 40 women financed his itinerant lifestyle, fuelling the myth and helping to lure victims.

Prosecutor Philip Katz QC said Mr Lyons surrounded himself with “young and charming” women but was a “sexual predator masquerading as a guru and a healer”.

The jury found Lyons, of Brondesbury Park, Kilburn, north London, guilty of raping a woman on June 30, 2002. He was also found guilty of assaulting another woman by penetration with his fingers on or before January 31, 2005.

He was cleared, or the jury could not decide, in other allegations of rape or assault.

Police said attacks were strikingly similar and Mr Lyons might have more victims in Britain and the United States.

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