A CLOTHING company has been branded "despicable" after releasing a T-shirt mocking the Manchester bombing.
Internet company T-Shirt Hell came under fire after putting a new design online depicting singer Ariana Grande above an explosion, with the slogan 'Ariana Grande is the bomb'.
The company has now withdraw the T-shirt from its website following criticism.
The product, priced at $22 (£17), was released just days after 22 people lost their lives when bomber Salman Abedi detonated a suicide device filled with shrapnel among crowds leaving the concert.
Among the victims was Eilidh MacLeod, 14, from Barra in the Outer Hebrides, who was attending her first gig. Other victims eight-year-old Saffie Rose Roussos from Leyland and teenager Georgina Callander from nearby Chorley.
Scottish Conservative MSP Annie Wells said the T-shirt was "verging on criminal"
The MSP said: “People accept that these companies exist to promote close-to-the-bone humour.
“But these products are utterly despicable – bad taste doesn’t even cover it. It’s even verging on criminal.
“I’m sure if the developers behind this website had lost loved ones in the Manchester attack, they would not be promoting such vile merchandise.”
Many of the fifty-nine people hurt in the attack are being treated for life-threatening injuries.
Twelve of those rushed to hospital were children, with Grande fanbase mainly made up of under-18s.
Eight people remain in custody in connection with Monday's attack, and police continue to investigate whether a terrorist network was behind the bombing.
Ariana, who was due to play the O2 Arena in London on Thursday and Friday, has suspended her tour.
A representative for T-Shirt Hell said that the company often sailed close to the wind with its humour, but after consideration realised it had overstepped the mark on this occasion.
He said: "My heart, and the hearts of all of us at T-Shirt Hell, go out to the victims of this tragedy.
"Contrary to what some people believe, we're not monsters. We have a reputation for providing comedy based on current, timely events and having no lines that we don't cross. We chose the name 'T-Shirt Hell' for a reason.
"The T-Shirt has now been withdrawn from sale".
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