Family of British Thai cave hero slam Elon Musk’s ‘paedo’ accusations as ‘unbelievable and completely untrue’
THE family of Vernon Unsworth today warned Tesla tycoon Elon Musk "your time will come" after he dubbed the cave hero a ";child rapist".
The outspoken billionaire earlier reiterated his unfounded claims that the 63 year old Brit - who famously helped rescue a stranded Thai football team - is a "paedophile."
Shirley O'Connor said her brother will only learn of Musk's latest slur when he lands in Thailand. Other members of his family have also hit out at the "unbelievable and untrue" allegations.
"Vernon will wake up to this rubbish," said Mrs O'Connor. "He is on his way to Thailand now. He flew out last night. He has no idea about what Musk has said."
She also laughed at Musk's latest outrageous allegation that Unsworth had a child bride.
"I've met Woranan (Unsworth's long-time girlfriend). She is charming. She is not a child," she said.
Mrs O'Connor said her brother met and fell in love with Woranan Ratrawiphukkun while she was working in a Thai restaurant in the UK.
She added that her brother was in consultation with his legal team in the US about the ongoing Musk slurs.
"His lawyer will take this up for Vernon," Mrs O'Connor . "Elon Musk's time will come."
Meanwhile the caver's brother in-law James O’Connor exclusively told the Sun Online: "The things he (Musk) is coming out with are unbelievable they are completely untrue.
"Vernon has gone back to Thailand now and he has told us not to say anything as it is in the lawyer’s hands."
He spoke out as Vernon's girlfriend in Thailand branded the billionaire's latest allegations laughable.
Woranan, who has been with Vernon Unsworth for seven years, spoke out hours after the Tesla tycoon said the 63 year old had married a child bride.
"I know what kind of person Vern is. If he wasn't a good man, we wouldn't still be together after all these seven years."
The 40-year-old - known as Tik - told the Thai news website Coconuts: "The news about him being married to a 12-year-old child is laughable."
Tik, who shares a rural home with Unsworth near Chiang Rai, added: "Vern is a kind person. He rarely has an argument with anyone, and everybody loves Vern.
"We've spent our life together for seven years - he's a good man and such a gentleman. He thinks of others before himself. I cannot comment further. I don't have anything to say to him ( Musk)."
Musk's latest baseless slur - which has been strongly denied by Unsworth's high-powered legal team - came in an explosive email to Buzzfeed News.
He blasted: "He's an old, single white guy from England who's been travelling to or living in Thailand for 30 to 40 years, mostly Pattaya Beach, until moving to Chiang Rai for a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time.
"There's only one reason people go to Pattaya Beach. It isn't where you go for caves, but it is where you'd go for something else.
"Chiang Rai is renowned for child sex-trafficking."
He added: "As for this alleged threat of a lawsuit, which magically appeared when I raised the issue (nothing was sent or raised beforehand), I hope he f***ing sues"
His latest outburst comes after a US-based lawyer for Unsworth sent Musk a letter - by Fedex and electric mail - notifying him of a possible lawsuit.
The Brit is being represented by well-known L.Lin Wood P.C, of Atlanta, who are described as "powerhouse libel and defamation lawyers."
Musk made his original allegations against Unsworth in mid July without any evidence, before later saying sorry and deleting his offending tweets.
Musk - worth a reported $20bn - posted a string of bizarre series of tweets, some of which he later deleted, suggesting the expert had exaggerated his role in the rescue.
In July, he claimed it was suspicious the 63-year-old lived in Thailand before explicitly branding him a "paedo" in one post.
Musk added: "Never saw this British expat guy who lives in Thailand (sus) at any point when we were in the caves."
However he then tweeted: “My words were spoken in anger after Mr. Unsworth said several untruths & suggested I engage in a sexual act with the mini-sub, which had been built as an act of kindness & according to specifications from the dive team leader.
“Nonetheless, his actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologize to Mr. Unsworth and to the companies I represent as leader. The fault is mine and mine alone."
The billionaire then took to Twitter again to question why the Brit hadn't sued him in wake of the remarks.
Musk wrote: "You don’t think it’s strange he hasn’t sued me? He was offered free legal services."
In a tense Twitter exchange with a journalist he added: "Did you investigate at all? I’m guessing answer is no. Why?"
Unsworth is a British expat and caver who lives near the Tham Luang tunnel network where the 12 boys and their football coach were trapped for more than two weeks.
He was scathing of Musk's offer to send a mini-submarine to help in the rescue efforts, which he dismissed as "just a PR stunt" and said the billionaire could "stick the submarine where it hurts."
Mr Musk’s initial accusation was widely criticised - with Mr Unsworth admitting the public spat had upset his family.
“It’s taken a bit of the pleasure out of what’s happened, what we’ve achieved, for me anyway. It’s very much upset my daughter,” he said in July.
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Mr Unsworth's lawyer, L. Lin Wood, has strongly denied the latest accusation.
"Elon Musk can tweet his vindictive and vicious lie about Mr. Unsworth a hundred times and it will still be a lie," Wood wrote in a statement to Buzzfeed.
"After deleting the initial accusation and tweeting an apology, Mr Musk has continued to republish his false and unsupportable accusation.
"His conduct demonstrates that his recklessness is intentional and designed to harm Mr. Unsworth."
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