A man named Daniel Gearie was shamed yesterday after an image of him dressed as the missing Madeleine McCann went viral.
Images VIA
The 25-year-old posted a picture of himself on twitter wearing a blonde wig and an Everton shirt next to a picture of the missing girl in the same outfit. As you can predict, this resulted in a flurry of angry messages, which led to Daniel making his account private.
As a result, the computer programmer has issued a grovelling apology for the “distasteful” costume, saying:
I put my hands up — I took this too far.
It was just me and my mates at the party and I posted the photo. I thought if someone else puts it up, it makes it look even worse.
It was a good-natured night that I’m afraid I took too far. I shouldn’t have done it. I am embarrassed.
When it goes as far as reaching my mum and dad’s friends, I know I have totally embarrassed them and made them look foolish.
Definitely sounds like he’s changed his tune. Previous to the image going viral, Daniel made the following comment on twitter:
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.
As you all will know, the parents left Madeleine and their two other children sleeping in their apartment while they had dinner at a tapas bar not too far from the room. Madeleine was later claimed to be missing by the parents and to this day no one knows what happened to her.
With regards to Daniel and the outfit, forensic psychology expert Dr John Synnott, of the University of Huddersfield, said:
People need to be aware that their actions have responsibilities.
Whether this was a closed event or not, we live in a society where everything is recorded.
This is a case where a young girl who has gone missing and has never been found. I struggle to find the humour in that.
So what are your thoughts? Should this guy have avoided dressing as Madeleine? Almost definitely yes – you can’t be getting away with ripping into a missing toddler, not matter how long ago the incident was. At least he’s put his hands up and apologised. He’d just better make sure that next year he doesn’t make the same mistake and dress as one of these offensive characters.
