The image onto which The Daily Telegraph photoshopped the face of Mike Carlton along with a headscarf to make it look like a Palestinian man fleeing the bombing in Gaza was actually a photo of a Boston bombing victim, it has emerged.

The body for the image, which is being circulated on social media and shows a man with torn clothes, appears to have originally been sourced from an AP image featuring victim James Costello staggering away from the aftermath of the attack in the US in May 2013.

The Sydney tabloid had used it as part of extensive coverage of Carlton’s resignation from Fairfax after the commentator sent abusive tweets and emails to readers.

The image was first tweeted by the anonymous anti News Corp twitter account @TheMurdochTimes who was among a number of online users who then condemned the use of the picture. Comment is being sought from News Corp Australia and the Daily Telegraph.

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At the time of the Boston Bombing an AP image taken by photographer Kenshin Okubo of James Costello who was severely burned on his right arm and leg in the attack was one of the most used images of the attack. Costello’s story and his decision to marry one of his nurses Krista D’Agostino gained wide traction in the US media.

Mike Carlton’s resignation from Fairfax has been one of the biggest media stories of the week after he resigned from Fairfax after being chastised by the Sydney Morning Herald’s editor-in-chief Darren Goodsir and then told by Goodsir’s boss Sean Aylmer that he would be suspended.

Carlton’s resignation came just a day after Fairfax issue an apology for a cartoon used to illustrate a Carlton column condemning Israel’s shelling of Gaza.

In the wake of the media storm the Daily Telegraph created two photoshopped images featuring Carlton including this mock up front page which showed Carlton as a Palestinian fleeing bombing in Gaza.

News Corp has been asked for comment on the decision to use the famous image and why it was presented as a Palestinian, with the addition of a headscarf, and in the context of the conflict in Gaza.

Link: Daily Tele editor offers “unreserved” apology

Nic Christensen

*Update This article originally credited Twitter user Bill Walters with spotting the source of the photo. Walters has since clarified that it was not him but @The MurdochTimes which revealed the similarity of the images.