Elon Musk ‘pedo’ comment: British diver Vernon Unsworth who rescued Thai boys from cave threatens to sue over baseless attack

A British caver who helped rescue the trapped Thai football team from the Tham Luang cave is threatening to sue billionaire Elon Musk after the entrepreneur falsely called him a “pedo”.

The Tesla and SpaceX boss launched the extraordinary tirade against Vernon Unsworth without providing any justification or explanation, after the cave expert slammed his offer of a mini submarine for the rescue as a “PR stunt”.

The team of 12 were rescued from flooded tunnels after being stranded for more than a fortnight. Rescuers have said Mr Unsworth’s knowledge of the caves was crucial in freeing the boys.

Speaking to CNN, Mr Unsworth, who is from St Albans, said Musk’s prototype would have had “absolutely no chance of working”.

“He can stick his submarine where it hurts,” he said. “He had no conception of what the cave passage was like. The submarine, I believe, was about 5ft 6in long, and rigid, so it wouldn’t have gone round corners or obstacles.

“It wouldn’t have made the first 50 metres in from the dive start point. Just a PR stunt.” Musk delivered the submarine to Thailand, but the rescuers said it was not required. Musk responded to Mr Unsworth’s comments yesterday in bizarre tweets referring to Mr Unsworth, without using his name, as “pedo guy”.

He said he would make a video proving the submarine would have worked, adding: “Sorry pedo guy, you really did ask for it”. Musk then tweeted to more than 22 million followers: “Bet ya a signed dollar it’s true”. He also said: “Never saw this British expat guy who lives in Thailand at any point when we were in the caves.” The tweets were later deleted.

Asked if he would take legal action against Musk over the allegation, Mr Unsworth told AFP: “If it’s what I think it is, yes.” Mr Unsworth, who spends part of the year in Chiang Rai, close to the cave, said he would decide when he flies home to the UK this week but said the episode with Musk “ain’t finished”.

Claus Rasmussen, a Danish instructor at Blue Label Diving in Phuket, called Musk’s attack “inappropriate” and praised Mr Unsworth’s rescue role: “He was the guy who effectively mapped most of that cave.” The schoolboys are expected to be discharged from hospital on Thursday.