Man arrested after wearing Manchester Arena bomber Halloween costume

Police with survivors close to the Manchester Arena after the May 22 terror attack. (PA)
Police with survivors close to the Manchester Arena after the May 22 terror attack. (PA)

A man has been arrested after being reported to the police for dressing up as the Manchester Arena bomber Salman Abedi for Halloween.

Abedi killed 22 people as well as himself when he detonated a bomb at the end of an Ariana Grande concert at the arena in May 2017.

Pictures of a man wearing an Arabic-style headdress, with the slogan "I love Ariana Grande" on his T-shirt, and carrying a rucksack with "Boom" and "TNT" written on the front, caused fury when they were posted online earlier this week.

In a statement, North Yorkshire Police said: "North Yorkshire Police can confirm that a man has been arrested after the force received complaints about a man wearing an offensive costume on social media depicting murderer Salman Abedi, who killed 22 people at Manchester Arena.

"The man was arrested on November 1 on suspicion of a number of offences including using a public communication network to send offensive messages."

A spokesman said on Thursday that the man has been released on bail pending further inquiries.