SALFORD DJ HAITCH MACKLIN SENTENCED FOR HORRIFIC CHILD SEX ABUSE IMAGES IN GREATER MANCHESTER

In a disturbing case that has shocked the community of Salford and the wider Greater Manchester area, Haitch Macklin, a 38-year-old DJ, has been subjected to a significant increase in his prison sentence after initially being convicted of possessing and distributing some of the most heinous child sexual abuse material ever encountered by authorities.

Originally, Macklin was sentenced to 20 months in prison in April 2020 after police discovered thousands of indecent images and videos depicting children, including infants, being subjected to sexual abuse on his electronic devices. The material was described by investigators as some of the most horrific and disturbing content they had encountered in many years of child sexual abuse investigations.

However, the severity of his crimes was later recognized as being grossly underestimated by the initial sentencing. On Thursday, a panel of three Court of Appeal judges reviewed the case and concluded that Macklin's original sentence did not adequately reflect the gravity of his offending. As a result, his prison term was doubled to four years, emphasizing the serious nature of his crimes.

During the court proceedings, it was revealed that Macklin, who used the online alias 'UK Perv', had been actively selling access to his collection of child abuse images and videos through an encrypted messaging application. He charged a monthly fee of £10 for this illicit service and promoted it within an online chatroom. The court heard that Macklin had openly advertised his sickening catalogue, which included videos of sexual torture involving babies and toddlers.

Further details emerged during the hearing, including that Macklin had been in contact with a covert international investigator. When asked about the types of images he possessed, Macklin responded by providing instructions on how to pay and explicitly mentioned that his collection contained images of 'babies, girls and boys under 10'.

In December, Macklin pleaded guilty to two counts of showing indecent images of children and three counts of making such images. The charges included over 600 images classified as Category A, the most serious category of child abuse material. Lady Justice Macur stated that the original sentence was insufficient, emphasizing that it did not come close to matching the severity of the crimes committed.

Authorities from the National Crime Agency (NCA), which had been investigating Macklin, revealed that he was known to work part-time as a DJ under the name DJ Spook. The NCA described the material he sold as some of the most horrific they had encountered in their extensive investigations into child sexual abuse. They also disclosed that Macklin's collection included videos depicting sexual torture of very young children, including babies and toddlers. Macklin had expressed a disturbing desire to acquire 'snuff' films, which depict real-life murders, and had spoken about his intent to murder someone and record the act.

Born David Bradley, and previously known as Haitch Bradley, Macklin first came to the attention of law enforcement in April 2018. Investigators traced an IP address used to post an indecent comment in an online chat to his Salford residence. Following this, he was placed under investigation, and subsequent searches uncovered over 2,000 indecent images of children on his devices, including 680 classified as Category A. The images ranged in age from as young as 12 months to 15 years old. Macklin also engaged in obscene online conversations with other offenders.

Despite being released under investigation, Macklin continued his illicit activities. Undercover officers from the United States and New Zealand monitored his online postings, where he offered a subscription-based streaming service for child abuse images. He claimed to have nine subscribers and assured potential buyers that viewing the content would be 'completely safe', with payments arranged via PayPal.

Following these revelations, the NCA executed a warrant at his Salford home in February of the previous year. They recovered electronic devices, including an iPhone, a laptop, and hard drives, which contained a total of 2,196 indecent images of children. Many of these images were inaccessible but depicted children as young as one year old up to 15 years old. Macklin's online activity also included conversations with other paedophiles, discussing his illegal trade.

During police interviews, Macklin claimed he was a victim of blackmail demanding $1,000 and alleged he suffered from schizophrenia, hearing voices that told him he was a paedophile. Despite his claims, he was arrested and charged with multiple offenses. His case was brought before Manchester Crown Court, where he pleaded guilty to three counts of making indecent images and two counts of showing such images.

His defense attorney, Adam Watkins, described Macklin's online enterprise as 'amateur', noting that he used his own PayPal account and personal contact details. The defense also highlighted that Macklin had voluntarily ceased his online activities and deleted the images before authorities intervened, following the involvement of his partner.

Judge Elizabeth Nicholls addressed Macklin directly, stating that there was no apparent link between his mental health issues and his criminal conduct. She imposed a 10-year sexual harm prevention order to protect the public from future offenses. Following the sentencing, Hazel Stewart, operations manager at the NCA, reaffirmed the seriousness of Macklin's crimes, emphasizing that the content he sold was among the most disturbing they had encountered and that he posed a significant threat to children.