INSTA-KILLER - 'Sickening' Oxford murderer runs Instagram account from his cell

Haydan O’Callaghan, then 18, stabbed father-of-two Aaron Buron three times after flying into a murderous rage at a gathering and chasing him along a Rose Hill street in the spring of 2012.

He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum period of 21 years behind bars.

But the Oxford Mail can today, nearly six years after the murder, reveal that remorseless killer O’Callaghan had been using an Instagram account, which allows users to post pictures using a mobile phone, with posts showing him posing shirtless and sticking his middle finger up at the camera.

O’Callaghan’s account, which was used as recently as last week and implied he would be ‘back with a bang’ when released, was removed from Instagram within hours of the Oxford Mail notifying the Ministry of Justice yesterday.

After being notified of the account, the MoJ said the use of a phone could result in an extra two years in jail.

Prior to its removal, a source close to the case had spoken about the devastating impact O’Callaghan’s Instagram-use could have had on Mr Buron’s family.

They said: “I know he is inside where he can’t harm any innocent people but I still find it disturbing for the general public and disrespectful to the victim’s family that he is allowed contact with the outside world.

“It makes me question what prison actually is because it seems like a home away from home to me.

“It’s a pretty sick world we live in when the system is allowing these animals to do as they please.”

O’Callaghan, who used Instagram with the handle ‘hocally_’, had posted nearly 30 times, had 250 followers and follows 884 people.

Most of his uploads were pictures of himself, thought to be inside his cell, and posted at at various dates throughout 2017. Some showed the killer smirking or simply staring blankly into the camera.

In one of the pictures O’Callaghan was shirtless and in another he holds his middle finger up at the camera – just as he did to the grieving family of Mr Buron when his verdict was read in court.

The most recent upload, a picture of O’Callaghan lying on a bed with his arms crossed, is captioned: “24 today #lets get waved !!”

Other posts were memes, short pieces of text on black backgrounds. One unrepentant post read: “There’s always a wild side to an innocent face.”

Another read: “Struggles are required in order to survive in life because in order to stand up, you gotta know what falling down is like.”

He had written ‘gone for a bit but will be back with a bang’ on the front page of the profile.

The Oxford Mail’s source told the paper: “It’s good that it’s been taken down now but he should never have been able to access Instagram anyway.

“It makes you wonder how many other murderers, rapists and paedophiles may be free to use social media despite being in prison.”

Mr Buron, who rapped using the name AZ, was just two days away from his 30th birthday when he was killed.

Aaron Buron with his son AJ and the boy's mother Gemma

The trained chef and music lover, who was studying carpentry at Oxford and Cherwell Valley College in Blackbird Leys, had spoken out against knife crime in his songs.

The teenage killer, who already had a string of violent offences to his name at the time of the murder, was sentenced to life in prison and told he would serve at least 21 years.

A spokesman for the MoJ said: “We are taking decisive action to find and block mobile phones in prison, including a £2m investment to block mobile phone signals.

“It is a criminal offence to bring a mobile phone into prison, or transmit sounds or images from within a prison using a mobile phone. These offences carry a maximum penalty of two years in prison.”

The shocking murder of Aaron Buron: Haydan O’Callaghan had been drinking heavily at Mr Buron’s girlfriend’s house in St Martin’s Road, in Rose Hill, on the evening of March 31, 2012.

An argument broke out between O’Callaghan and his ‘on and off’ girlfriend of four years Latasha Peck, during which O’Callaghan bit her on the head.

Mr Buron, his girlfriend Lisa Harris and a group of teenage boys stepped in and tried to get O’Callaghan off Miss Peck – but the thug leapt up and grabbed a knife from the kitchen.

The group of teenagers and Mr Buron fled out into the street while O’Callaghan, brandishing the knife, gave chase.

After tripping over a bike in the front garden, O’Callaghan made a beeline for Mr Buron, who had armed himself with a piece of wood.

O’Callaghan stabbed Mr Buron in the street just metres from the house the 29-year-old shared with his parents at around 11.20am. He stabbed him three times – through the heart, liver and arm – and left the knife in his torso.

He was arrested at his then home address in Saunders Road, East Oxford, at 5.30am the following morning.

During the trial, O’Callaghan, who was emotionless and calm as he took the stand, told the jury that he was ‘extremely drunk’ and that he did not intend to kill Mr Buron.

Admitting manslaughter but denying murder, he claimed he could not remember attacking his girlfriend or stabbing Mr Buron in the street, but accepted that that was what happened.

The jury deliberated for just two hours before returning with their guilty verdict.

When it was read, O’Callaghan gave Mr Buron’s grieving family the finger and made a gun gesture with his hand.