A mug, showing a cartoon of missing Madeleine McCann as a skeleton, has been pulled from eBay.
Sold by the seller rn_commando on the popular auction site, the mug was being sold for £6.49 as an ‘offensive joke comedy mug’ showing the missing girl as a skeleton with hair.
The cartoon even encouraged people to ‘bury her’ if they found her saying ‘if you see Madeleine please don’t hesitate’.
Parents Kate and Gerry McCann left their three children sleeping in their apartment in Portugal, while they ate dinner at a tapas bar 120 metres away, on holiday in 2007.
The investigation into three-year-old Madeleine’s disappearance is still ongoing.
The vile mug portrayed her to be dead and has now been pulled from the site – the seller’s account has also been suspended.
Mugs which had images of paedophiles Gary Glitter and Rolf Harris, as well as serial killers Harold Shipman and Fred and Rose West, were also being sold by the same seller.
Harris served jail time for four historical sex crimes against female victims aged between eight and 19.
One of the mugs on sale showed Harris as the KFC’s Colonel but this time the ‘KFC’ stood for ‘Kiddy Fiddling C*ck S*cker’.
Despite having a policy which bans such offensive items, somehow the products were not picked up on.
A spokesperson for eBay told The Sun:
These items were immediately removed and the seller suspended.
These items have absolutely no place on our marketplace.
Only last month a man caused outrage online when he dressed up as the missing youngster for Halloween.
25-year-old Daniel Gearie, from Dundee, posted a photo of himself on Twitter wearing an Everton shirt and a blonde wig and immediately received backlash on social media.
Next to the snap was a famous image of Madeleine wearing the same outfit and the caption:
you’ve taken it too far Daniel.
Gearie, who has since made his Twitter account private, also added:
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.
Going viral on Twitter, his choice of outfit was criticised by thousands.
One person wrote:
Dressing up as a missing child for Halloween is lower than a snake’s belly.
Another user added:
What a depressing thing to wake up to. Whats [sic] wrong with some folk?
Trying to excuse yourself by having a cheap dig at parents. Super creep.
Gearie has now replied to the backlash by publishing a public apology on his Twitter account.
He wrote:
At the weekend I made the most incredibly stupid, vile and disgusting decision of my life.
I can honestly say that I am embarrassed and disgusted by my own behaviour and can only apologise for any offence that I caused anyone.
There’s no hiding from what I did, I have to hold my hands up and take responsibility for my own actions.
I am genuinely sorry for the hurt that I have caused to my family over the past few days and hope that one day they and anyone else that I hurt can forgive me.
For now though I have to reflect on who I currently am and how I can better myself as a person.
Hopefully Gearie has now learnt his lesson!
