June 2020
DJ jailed for ‘horrific’ sex abuse images has sentence doubled
A DJ jailed after he shared a catalogue of “horrific and disturbing” child sex abuse images online has had his sentence more than doubled by senior judges.
Haitch Macklin, 38, was handed a jail term of 20 months in April after thousands of indecent photos and videos of children, including babies, being subjected to sexual abuse were found on his devices.
But at a hearing on Thursday, his sentence was increased to four years, after three Court of Appeal judges ruled that the original term did not “reflect the gravity of the offending”.
He sold access to his catalogue of videos and photos via an encrypted messaging app for £10 a month, advertising the service in an online chatroom where he used the name “UK perv”, the court heard.
The court also heard that at one point, when contacted by a covert international investigator who asked what type of images he had, Macklin replied with instructions on how to pay and indicated that there were “babies, girls and boys under 10”.
Macklin, of New Devonshire Square, Salford, Greater Manchester, pleaded guilty in December to two counts of showing indecent images of children and three counts of making indecent images of children, including more than 600 classed as category A – the most serious.
Lady Justice Macur said: “We come to the sure conclusion that we cannot accept that the sentence reflects the gravity of the offending in this case, and that it does not do so by some margin.”
After he was jailed in April, the National Crime Agency (NCA), which said Macklin worked part-time as a DJ known as DJ Spook, said officers had noted that the material he sold access to was “some of the most horrific and disturbing content they’ve ever seen in many years investigating child sexual abuse”.
The NCA said Macklin’s collection included sexual torture videos of babies and toddlers, and that he had told of his desire to acquire “snuff” films showing real-life killings, and spoken about wanting to murder someone and film it.
Macklin, who was born David Bradley, was previously known as Haitch Bradley, the NCA said.
Macklin had first come to the authorities’ attention in April 2018 when investigators traced an IP address to him after it was used to post an indecent comment in an online chat session.
His sentence was referred to the Court of Appeal by Solicitor General Michael Ellis under the unduly lenient sentencing scheme.
In a statement after the hearing, Mr Ellis said: “The extent of Haitch Macklin’s involvement in this grossly abhorrent distribution of child pornography is sickening.
“I am pleased that the court has found his sentence to be unduly lenient and decided to increase it.”
April 2020
Salford man advertised £10-a-month streaming service for sick child abuse images
A part time DJ who fantasised about raping and murdering a child has been jailed.
Haitch Macklin, 38, made and showed some of the worst child sex abuse images ever seen by investigators at the National Crime Agency (NCA).
Macklin (pictured), who performed under the name DJ Spook, sold access to his horrendous catalogue to other paedophiles for a £10 monthly subscription via an encrypted messaging app from his Salford home in Greater Manchester.
His horrific collection included sexual torture videos of babies and toddlers.
Macklin even spoke of his desire to acquire ‘snuff’ films showing real-life murders.
He also told another offender that he wanted to murder someone and film it.
Macklin told police that he was hearing voices ‘telling him that he was a paedophile’.
Police executed a warrant at his Salford home and found Macklin had downloaded more than 2,000 indecent images of children.
He was released under investigation and then began to offer an online ‘streaming service’ to other paedophiles, using a device he kept in his loft.
Experienced officers described the footage he possessed as ‘some of the most horrific and disturbing content they’ve ever seen in many years’.
Now Macklin has been locked up for 20 months.
Manchester Crown Court heard that Macklin used a number of different online profiles, including one named ‘UK Perv’.
After receiving intelligence, officers raided Macklin’s home in April 2018 and recovered items including an iPhone, a laptop and hard drives, prosecutor Justin Hayhoe said.
They were later found to contain 2,196 indecent images of children, of which 680 were the most serious category A images.
Many of the images were ‘inaccessible’, but they featured children aged from as young as 12-months-old to 15-years-old.
Macklin had also been engaging with ‘obscene’ conversations with other paedophiles online.
After being arrested, Macklin claimed he had been the victim of blackmail, and that someone was demanding $1,000 from him.
He claimed to suffer from schizophrenia, and said he heard ‘voices’ in his head ‘telling him that he was a paedophile’.
Macklin was released under investigation, but continued with his behaviour.
An undercover American law enforcement officer spotted that Macklin had posted online about offering a £10 a month subscription service.
The officer then spoke to Macklin and claimed he already had nine subscribers, and there would be more child abuse to view.
He told the officer it would be ‘completely safe’ for him to view the images, and that payment would be arranged via Paypal.
Another undercover officer based in New Zealand also noticed Macklin’s posts, and was told it would be ‘totally secure’.
The National Crime Agency became aware and went to his home in February last year.
Macklin, who has no previous convictions, later pleaded guilty three counts of making indecent images in relation to the earlier offences, and to two counts of showing indecent images following the more recent offending.
Defending, Adam Watkins described Macklin’s ‘commercial enterprise’ as ‘amateur’, as he had used his own Paypal account with his name, and his own phone number.
Mr Watkins said that Macklin had voluntarily stopped his activity online and deleted images before the NCA went to his home, following the ‘intervention’ of his partner.
Judge Elizabeth Nicholls told Macklin, of New Devonshire Square, Salford, that there ‘does not seem to be a correlation between the offences and your mental health’.
The judge also imposed a sexual harm prevention order for 10 years.
After the hearing, the NCA’s operations manager Hazel Stewart said: “A team of officers viewed, assessed and graded the material Macklin sold access to, and all noted that this is some of the most horrific and disturbing content they’ve ever seen in many years investigating child sexual abuse.
“Macklin posed a very real and dangerous threat to children.”
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