Journalist makes vile Twitter jokes about Manchester terror attack

An American journalist has caused outrage on social media by tweeting sick jokes referencing the suspected terror attack in Manchester.

As the first reports of the 'bombing' emerged, Boston-based reporter, David Leavitt wrote: "Multiple confirmed fatalities at Manchester Arena. The last time I listened to Ariana Grande I almost died too".

His tweet — which has since been deleted — sparked an instant backlash as users labeled him "a vile scumbug", but that didn't stop him from posting a second insensitive tweet. 

"Honestly, for over a year I thought Ariana Grande was something you ordered at Starbucks", he wrote as news of the tragedy continued to unfold.

He then replied, "Too soon?" to those who criticised him, before sharing a notification from Twitter telling him his tweets were getting a huge amount of attention on the platform.

Leavitt, who writes on a freelance basis for Yahoo and CBS, did finally apologise saying he "always makes jokes about whatever is trending" and "didn't realise the magnitude of the tragedy".

Manchester police have so far confirmed that 19 people were killed in the blast outside the arena, with a further 50 injured.