Halloween reveller is slammed as 'vile' for dressing up as Madeleine McCann - but he sinks even lower with 'cheap dig' at her parents. Photo / Twitter
Halloween reveller is slammed as 'vile' for dressing up as Madeleine McCann - but he sinks even lower with 'cheap dig' at her parents. Photo / Twitter
A Halloween reveller has sparked outrage for dressing up as missing girl Madeleine McCann and making a 'cheap dig' at her parents.
Daniel Gearie, 25, from Dundee, posted the iconic picture of Maddie, who disappeared from her hotel apartment in Portugal in 2007, smiling in her Everton shirt next to an image of himself in the same top with a blonde wig on.
Alongside the two images, he tweeted: "You've taken it too far daniel."
He then appeared to defend his actions, saying: "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", the MailOnline reported.
His post on Saturday night went viral and sparked outrage among Twitter users, who branded him "sick" and "vile". And a family spokesman for the McCanns described it as "cretinous behaviour".
Miss Mac wrote: "Ugh @DanielGearie dressing up as a missing child for Halloween is lower than a snakes belly. Vile t**t".
Halloween reveller is slammed as 'vile' for dressing up as Madeleine McCann - but he sinks even lower with 'cheap dig' at her parents. Photo / Twitter
Mike Callaghan tweeted: "What a depressing thing to wake up to. Whats wrong wi some folk? Trying to excuse yourself by having a cheap dig at parents. Super creep."
Northern Union said: "This is so so wrong.. You clearly do not have kids."
A few hours later, Mr Gearie apologised for causing offence and deleted his original tweet. He added: "I've already admitted earlier it's something I regret however I need to be open and honest about what I've done, can't hide from it."
A spokesman for the McCann family told MailOnline: "Kate and Gerry have never dignified this sort of offensive and cretinous behaviour with any sort of comment at all and they are not going to start now.
"It is right the material has been deleted."
Speaking to MailOnline this afternoon, Mr Gearie said he was "disgusted" by his own actions and issued an apology to the McCanns.
He said: "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.
"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.
"All I can say is that I am completely embarrassed about what I did and I'm very sorry."
Kate and Gerry McCann hold up a picture of Madeleine during a press conference. Photo / Getty
In August this year, Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, pleaded with trolls to stop abusing them online.
The couple are targeted by 150 vile tweets every day, according to research into online abuse.
The couple told how they still try to shield their 12-year-old twins from cruel, false and libellous taunts being made against the family, which Kate describes as "shocking, striking and quite hard to get your head round."
Three-year-old Maddie vanished from a Praia da Luz in May 2007. She had been left alone sleeping with her younger siblings while her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas restaurant.
Maddie's disappearance sparked one of the largest missing person's probes ever.
Although she and Gerry try avoid to social media, apart from for the Maddie campaign, Kate said: "We are aware of things that get said because people alert us to them. Our worry is for our children."
MADDIE PARENTS' AGONY AT BEING TAUNTED BY TROLLS
Madeleine McCann's parents are targeted by 150 vile tweets every day, according to research into online abuse.
The cruel remarks, directed at Kate and Gerry, were found to be made mostly by women.
Psychologist Dr John Synott, who carried out the first study of its kind and revealed his finding in March, said: 'Most trolling behaviour has a lifespan of a couple of days.
"This has gone on for ten years, and you cannot see it ever ending. That is the legacy of the McCann case.
"In the physical world there are repercussions. You couldn't get away with saying these things in the street. But in the virtual world there are no consequences."
He estimated there were between 100 and 150 abusive comments directed on Twitter, Facebook and online McCann message boards daily. Much of the abuse blames the couple for being responsible for her their daughter's disappearance.
Dr Synott called for action to be taken against the trolls, including taking away pseudonyms that allowed people to make abusive comments anonymously.
