		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="111265417"
		 data-section="2">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><p>A British cave diver branded “sus” and “pedo guy” by tech billionaire Elon Musk was left feeling “humiliated, ashamed, dirtied,” a court has heard.</p>
<p>Vernon Unsworth’s voice cracked as he gave evidence in his defamation case against the Tesla co-founder.</p>
<p><!--Ads1--></p>
<p>The row started when Mr Unsworth, who helped with the perilous underwater rescue of children trapped in a Thai cave, dismissed Mr Musk’s offer of aid as a publicity stunt.</p>
<figure id="attachment_145614" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-145614" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-145614" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/61ECD50E-4929-49E2-93F7-22A68FC765B4.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="738" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-145614" class="wp-caption-text">Vernon Unsworth is suing Elon Musk</figcaption></figure>
<p>Mr Unsworth, who divides his time between London and Thailand, gave evidence at a Los Angeles court on Wednesday and appeared on the verge of tears while describing the impact of Mr Musk’s tweets.</p>
<p>Asked how he felt after seeing what Mr Musk’s tweeted, he replied: “It feels very raw. I feel humiliated. Ashamed. Dirtied.</p>
<p>“From day one I was given a life sentence without parole. And at times I feel very vulnerable, it hurts to even talk about it.”</p>
<blockquote><p>I have probably lost a bit of self confidence. I have good days and bad days</p></blockquote>
<p><!--Ads2--></p>
<p>Mr Unsworth, a veteran cave explorer who said he first travelled to Thailand in 2011, added Mr Musk’s tweet was “very hurtful”.</p>
<p>“I find it disgusting,” he said. “I find it very hard to even read the word, never mind talk about.”</p>
<p>Mr Unsworth was then asked about a follow-up tweet from Musk, in which he said words to the effect of “Don’t you think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me?”</p>
<p>Mr Unsworth said he was “obviously” aware of the post, and asked what it meant, replied: “If I did not (sue) it must be true. Which it is not.”</p>
<p>The British diver said his name is “tagged with being a paedophile”.</p>
<figure id="attachment_145616" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-145616" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-145616" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/B2090AEA-AB7F-4D96-BACE-E1CD1959BE07.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="900" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-145616" class="wp-caption-text">Tesla CEO Elon Musk appeared in court on Tuesday</figcaption></figure>
<p>Discussing the impact of the tweets, he said: “I have probably lost a bit of self confidence. I have good days and bad days.”</p>
<p>“I still feel dirtied,” he added.</p>
<p>Mr Unsworth, a financial consultant, told the court he first travelled to Thailand in 2011 with his girlfriend Woranan Ratrawiphukkun, known as Tik.</p>
<p>The 64-year-old said he had explored caves around the world and was an expert in the layout of the system the children were trapped in.</p>
<p>He first realised there was an issue when Tik was told by her father on June 24.</p>
<p>Mr Unsworth became heavily involved in the rescue, the court heard.</p>
<p>He met with senior Thai politicians, including the interior minister and sports minister.</p>
<p><!--Ads3--></p>
<figure id="attachment_145617" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-145617" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-145617" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/141CB974-1DB0-414D-9739-DB6D7924B61C.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-145617" class="wp-caption-text">Vernon Unsworth said he still felt dirtied by the comment</figcaption></figure>
<p>During the three days the 12 boys and their football coach were rescued from the cave over July 8-10, Mr Unsworth said he did not sleep “at all”.</p>
<p>“I was there 24/7,” he said, “either in the cave or giving advice to officials.”</p>
<p>The row between the British rescuer and Mr Musk started after Mr Unsworth gave an interview to CNN, in which he dismissed Mr Musk’s offer of a mini submersible to aid the rescue and said the Tesla founder should “stick his submarine where it hurts”.</p>
<p>Asked what he based the assessment on, Mr Unsworth said Mr Musk’s proposed submersible was “just not practical for the cave system”.</p>
<p>During the first day of the trial on Tuesday, Mr Musk appeared in court to deny “pedo guy” was an allegation of paedophilia.</p>
<p>The billionaire dismissed it as a Twitter insult between two men having a row.</p>
<figure id="attachment_145618" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-145618" style="width: 600px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img class="size-full wp-image-145618" src="https://londonglossy.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/972A863C-2B4D-40E2-9238-602208B862BB.jpeg" alt="" width="600" height="400" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-145618" class="wp-caption-text">Lin Wood, the lawyer for Mr Unsworth</figcaption></figure>
<p><!--Ads4--></p>
<p>Mr Musk insisted the phrase “pedo guy” was commonly used in his native South Africa and meant “creepy old guy” and not that Mr Unsworth was a paedophile.</p>
<p>Asked by Lin Wood, one of Mr Unsworth’s lawyers, why he did not offer the defence earlier, Mr Musk replied: “I think it would have been worse.”</p>
<p>He said “it’s like if I called someone a mothereffer,” adding it would seem “sarcastic” to say “I did not mean they committed incest”.</p>
<p>Mr Unsworth is suing for defamation over the July 15 2018 tweet.</p>
<p><!--Ads5--></p>
			<div style="padding-bottom:15px;" class="wordads-tag" data-slot-type="belowpost">
				<div id="atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ece973b0b7b">
					<script type="text/javascript">
						window.getAdSnippetCallback = function () {
							if ( false === ( window.isWatlV1 ?? false ) ) {
								// Use Aditude scripts.
								window.tudeMappings = window.tudeMappings || [];
								window.tudeMappings.push( {
									divId: 'atatags-dynamic-belowpost-68ece973b0b7b',
									format: 'belowpost',
								} );
							}
						}

						if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) {
							document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', window.getAdSnippetCallback );
						} else {
							window.getAdSnippetCallback();
						}
					</script>
				</div>
			</div>
Discover more from London Glossy Post
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
