Paid Content

London 2012: Tom Daley Hits Back At 'Idiot' Twitter Troll Rileyy_69 For Abuse Over His Dead Father

Is This How To Treat Our Heroes?
https://twitter.com/Rileyy_69/status/2299804161766
What's this?

This content was paid for by an advertiser. It was produced by our commercial team and did not involve HuffPost editorial staff.

UPDATE: On Monday evening, Dorset Police confirmed that they "are aware of the issue" surrounding the Twitter abuse of Tom Daley and are "actively looking into it".

Tom Daley has hit out at a Twitter troll who accused him of letting down his late father on Monday evening.

Daley and his partner Pete Waterfield missed out on a medal when they finished fourth in the men's synchronised 10m platform diving event at the Olympics.

Tom Daley covers his eyes after a bad day in the pool

Shortly afterwards, Daley retweeted a message from user Rileyy_69 which said: "You let your dad down i hope you know that."

Daley responded by tweeting: "After giving it my all...you get idiot's sending me this..."

Daley's father, Rob, died in 2011 from brain cancer.

Speaking before the Olympics, Daley revealed his father "gave me all the inspiration that I've needed".

The 18-year-old told the BBC: "Winning a medal would make all the struggles that I've had worthwhile. It's been my dream since a very young age to compete at an Olympics.

"I'm doing it for myself and my dad. It was both our dreams from a very young age.

"I always wanted to do it and dad was so supportive of everything.

"It would make it extra special to do it for him."

When news of the insensitive tweet spread, Rileyy_69 attempted to apologise.

He tweeted: "@TomDaley1994 I'm sorry mate i just wanted you to win cause its the olympics I'm just annoyed we didn't win I'm sorry tom accept my apology."

He later added: "please i don't want to be hated I'm just sorry you didn't win i was rooting for you pal to do britain all proud just so upset."

However, he later posted a threatening tweet to the world-famous diver.

He said: "i'm going to find you and i'm going to drown you in the pool you cocky tw*t your a nobody people like you make me sick."

In response, thousands of Twitter users tweeted their support for Daley and expressed their horror at Rileyy_69's comments.

Even broadcaster Piers Morgan joined in, describing Rileyy_69 as "a disgusting slimeball".

Meanwhile, Dorset Police have said they are investigating the tweets sent to Tom Daley.

On Monday evening, the hash tag #ThingsBetterThanRiley69 hit the top of the UK Twitter trends.

SCROLL DOWN TO LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS

London 2012 Pictures: The Action From Day Three Of The Olympics

Close

What's Hot