A man dressed up as a missing British toddler, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in 2007, and he’s being slammed online.
McCann has been the subject of an international search after she disappeared in Portugal as her parents were eating at a restaurant nearby.
But for this Halloween, one UK man, Daniel Gearie, dressed up in the same soccer uniform that Madeleine used to wear and included a blonde wig.
Gearie posted the image on his now-private Twitter page, and made the joke that he took “it too far.”
“And before you say ’this is sick' etc I know it is but I’m not the one who left a child unattended in a Portuguese hotel,” he wrote on Twitter.
Other Twitter users criticized the man.
“This is so so wrong.. You clearly do not have kids,” one person wrote before he made his Twitter page private.
“Ugh @DanielGearie dressing up as a missing child for Halloween is lower than a snakes belly,” said another.
Another said, “DanielGearie you sir are a sick twisted individual who only apologized due to the backlash! I hope you get everything that is coming Ur way.”
“Kate and Gerry have never dignified this sort of offensive and cretinous behavior with any sort of comment at all and they are not going to start now,” a spokesperson told the paper.
He issued a more lengthy apology to the Mail
“I would like to unreservedly apologise for what I have done. There is no defending it. It was vile and disgusting and I am disgusted at myself,” he said. “My family are heartbroken. It was a sheer moment of stupidity.”
“I was going to a party with close friends and I didn’t tell anyone about it. I wanted to surprise them and provoke a reaction. But I knew I'd gone too far and there was a lot of nervous laughter. Everyone knew it was far too close to the bone.”
“I put it on Twitter before anyone else did. And there is no defending what I wrote after - I should have kept away from my phone after a few drinks,” he added. “All I can say is that I am completely embarrassed about what I did and I’m very sorry.”
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