A PRANKSTER is facing a police investigation for dressing up as the Manchester Arena bomber for Halloween.

David Wootton, 40, posed in an Arabic-style headdress and T-shirt with “I love Ariana Grande” scrawled across it in red pen.

He also posted a picture on Facebook of a black bag with “Boom” and “TNT” written on it.

His caption read: “Bet I get kicked out of the Halloween party.”

But after his friends on Facebook urged him to take it down he added: “Only went and won the best costume.”

But one ex-pal said they had contacted North Yorkshire Police to report a hate crime.

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His outfit was a reference to the 2017 Manchester Arena attack by extremist Salman Abedi that left 22 dead and more than 1,000 injured.

Many victims were children who had seen an Ariana Grande gig with their parents.

But Wootton’s stunt failed to impress friends.

One told The Sun: “It makes me cry to think that someone would think this is remotely funny.”

Wootton ignored their protests online, writing: “Whittling down my mates with no sense of humour . . . it’s working.”

Tonight Wootton told The Sun: “It’s not offensive. It was an adult fancy dress.

“I didn’t mean any harm to anyone and I deeply apologise if I have.”