MUSK WINS
Elon Musk found NOT GUILTY of defaming the Brit cave hero he called a ‘paedo guy’
BILLIONAIRE Elon Musk has been found not guilty of defamation for calling a hero British cave diver a "paedo guy".
Vernon Unsworth sued the tycoon over his comment following his part in the rescue of 12 boys in Thailand.
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The case stemmed from the pair's very public squabble last year when Mr Unsworth was part of an international team working to save a youth football team and their coach from a flooded cave network.
The tech boss said he was building a mini-submarine to guide the boys to safety - but the rescuer told CNN the scheme had "absolutely no chance of working" and said Musk and his team had been asked to leave.
Musk hit back by branding him "paedo guy" to his millions of followers on Twitter.
The caving expert, from St Albans, Herts, fought back tears at court this week as he said being branded a paedophile was "a life sentence without parole".
His voice cracking with emotion, he said: "It feels very raw. I feel humiliated, shamed, dirtied."
But A US District Court jury in Los Angeles on Friday found in favour of the Tesla Inc boss in the defamation lawsuit.
The verdict was delivered on the fourth day of the trial a short time after the case was handed to the jury of five women and three men.
Following the court victory, Musk told The Mail: "My faith in humanity is restored."
£144MILLION DAMAGES CLAIM
Unsworth was seeking £144million damages against Musk, who during the trial estimated his net worth at £15billion.
He was challenged by Mr Musk's lawyers during the case if he wanted to apologise for his own comments.
He replied: “My insult was to the tube and not to Mr Musk personally.
“I’m not sure how I need to apologise. It was my opinion at the time and I stand by that opinion.”
He added: “I don’t think he was cold-hearted, but I do believe it was a PR stunt.”
The Brit, 64, also revealed Prince William spoke to him about "the situation that existed with Mr Musk" when he awarded him an MBE at Buckingham Palace.
The judge stopped him revealing more about the conversation after an objection from Musk's attorney.
Earlier he had said his upset over the "paedo guy" tweet meant he could not enjoy what should have been one of the proudest moments of his life.
The court also heard from Mr Unsworth's estranged wife Vanessa, who said he was "really devastated" by Musk's slur and any suggestion he was a paedophile was "totally false".
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She said she is "incredibly proud" of his role in the rescue, despite their split in 2013 when he was already in a relationship with his Thai girlfriend Tik.
Musk deleted the "pedo guy" tweet after a backlash from the public and pressure from investors as his company's stock dipped.
But he later labelled the cave diver a "child rapist" in a rambling email to a reporter which he claims he thought was off the record.
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British rescue worker Vernon Unsworth who led operation to save Thai schoolboys trapped in cave says Elon Musk can 'stick his submarine where it hurts'