Student faces backlash after claiming to be Madeline McCann

A student from Manchester is facing criticism after messages she sent in a private group appeared online.

Harriet Brookes was joking with friends when she said she thought she might be Madeline McCann. She gave some reasons why she thought she was the missing child, including a dot on her eye similar and how their baby photos were the same. The screenshots from the conversation appeared online over the weekend and quickly went viral. Some people were even working out if it was possible. But, seeing as Harriet is in college and Madeline would only be 14-years-old now, it's impossible. Here are the messages: Her friend sent out a Tweet with the images included and at that point, Harriet knew it was going to go viral.

if this gets any more retweets i’m deleting social media and going into hiding

— harriet ✿ (@Harriet_Brookes) November 23, 2017

Following the response, the friend decided to delete the images, but it was too late because the messages had already been circulated.