Teenage boy, 17, arrested over hate Tweets sent to Olympic diver Tom Daley after he missed out on a medal

A teenage boy was arrested today after malicious tweets were sent to Olympic diver Tom Daley, accusing of him letting down his late father by missing out on a medal.

Dorset Police confirmed they had arrested a 17-year-old at a guest house in Weymouth.

A police spokesman said: 'A 17-year-old man was arrested by Dorset Police officers in the early hours this morning at a guesthouse in the Weymouth area on suspicion of malicious communications.

'He is currently helping police with their inquiries.'

Daley, 18, and his partner Pete Waterfield, 31, finished fourth yesterday in the men’s synchronised 10m platform diving event at London 2012.

A 17-year-old has been arrested after malicious tweets were sent to Olympic diver Tom Daley (pictured)

Shortly afterwards, Daley retweeted a message from user Rileyy69 which said: 'You let your dad down i hope you know that.'

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

Daley’s father Rob died last year from brain cancer.

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

He 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.'

Shocking: Diving star Tom Daley reacts angrily after he was sent an abusive tweet following his disappointment at missing out on a medal this afternoon

Abuse: This shows the original Tweet which was sent to Tom Daley

When news of the insensitive tweet spread, Rileyy69 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.'

Dorset Police later confirmed they were investigating the incident.

A spokesman for the force wrote on Twitter: 'Regarding tweets to @tomdaley1994 - we are aware of the issue and we are actively looking into it.'

Deputy Mayor of the Olympic Village Duncan Goodhew, a gold and bronze medallist in swimming at the Moscow Olympics in 1980, described the behaviour of the Twitter troll as 'appalling'.

'It is appalling that people behave that way. Becky Adlington, in fact, suffered probably far worse abuse, as well, if you remember the kerfuffle some years ago,' he told ITV’s Daybreak.

'I suppose that social media in one sense is fantastic, but turned the wrong way round it is very, very personal and it destroys people’s lives.

'So I think people should be much more careful about what they say.'

Inspiration: Daley's father Rob, left, died in May last year following a long battle with cancer and was a major driving force behind the teenager's success

After the disappointment of the synchronised final, a leading sports psychologist predicted that Daley would use the memory of his father to spur him on and go for gold in the individual diving event.

Tom Lucas, a leading sports psychologist, said: “I think he’s on a mission to remember his dad and his mission is to win something in the individual - which is his stronger event.

'Carl Lewis always had a photo of his father tucked down his socks, that was a reminder for him.

'I think for Tom the memory of his father will be used as a catalyst and a spur.

'And Tom is a good showman, he’s a supremely confident athlete.'

Mr Lucas said Daley stood more chance of glory in the individual event and top competitors like him would not waver despite a knock-back.

'To a certain extent that was his weaker event,' Mr Lucas added. 'It’s not the winning, it’s how you deal with disaster, how you deal with the setbacks, that separates the good from the great athletes.

'They were actually leading at one point but went a bit haywire and could not recover.

'That’s gone now, that’s away. His focus now will be on the individual event.

'I think this will spur him on. These people don’t give up that easily, he will be even stronger for the individual event now.

'He will be on the podium. It’s just a question of which colour medal he gets.'

Daley will compete in the individual event on August 11.

The Script had Daley walking proudly to the rostrum and holding a medal aloft.

But his dream of winning Olympic gold in the synchronised diving ended yesterday in despair.

He and Waterfield fluffed their fourth dive – and watched their scores plunge as quickly as they had into the water.

Here's how it all went wrong on dive number four

His mother Debbie, watching the event at the Aquatic Centre in the Olympic Park, threw her head back in disbelief at her son’s final dive. His close companion and team-mate Tonia Couch could barely hide her disappointment.

The normally exuberant Daley, leaning against a wall beneath the diving platform, could only put his hand to his brow. ‘Gutted’ was how he described his emotions later, adding: ‘So sorry everyone.’

Daley’s father Rob was killed by a brain tumour 14 months ago at the age of 40. Last night police confirmed they were investigating the offensive tweets sent to Daley, which included threats to drown him.

The young diver did not lack for – largely female – support yesterday. Synchronised drooling isn’t yet an Olympic event but yesterday’s performance by Team TD would surely have been worthy of gold.

From young mothers who should have known better to teeny schoolgirls hoping to capture an iPhone snapshot, hundreds came in search of a little piece of Tom. Some were even there for the diving.

‘I love the smell of chlorine in the morning,’ said loyal follower Emma Santoni. The 26-year-old chemist has a flat only a few miles from the modest Plymouth semi where Daley lives with his mother Debbie and brothers Will, 16, and Ben, 13, and has watched him at the pool where they both swim.

Daley (nearside) and Waterfield stretch out on one of their early dives

Both Daley and Waterfield will have another chance to win a medal in the 10m individual platform event

Gutted: Following the event, Tom Daley tweeted to express his disappointment

Tom Daley after his first dive, which put him and Pete Waterfield in joint first place

Daley and Waterfield plummet head first towards the water on their first dive

The Chinese pair of Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang have a comfortable lead

THE FULL RESULTS

1. Yuan Cao and Yanquan Zhang (China) - 486.78

2. Ivan Garcia Navarro and German Sanchez Sanchez (Mexico) - 468.90    

3. David Boudia and Nicholas McCrory (United States) - 463.47  

4. Tom Daley and Pete Waterfield (Great Britain) - 454.65  

5. Jeinkler Aguiree and Jose Antonio Guerra (Cuba) - 450.90  

6. Ilya Zakharov and Victor Minibaev (Russia) - 449.88

7. Patrick Hausding and Sascha Klein (Germany) - 446.07  

8. Oleksandr Gorshkovozov and Oleksandr Bondar (Ukraine) - 433.32 

What exactly was it that she liked about him, I asked. ‘Are you kidding?’ she said. ‘Have you seen him lately?’

And on cue, he appeared. ‘Lay-dees and gentlemen,’ said the loudspeaker announcement. ‘Tom (slight pause)... Daley!’

The crowd erupted. Pensioners waved their flags with great vigour; fathers tried to calm excited teenage daughters. 

Daley’s Angels, the groupies who follow him everywhere, came over a bit faint.

And, at this stage, standing in a line-up alongside his synchronised partner Waterfield, our hero still had his kit on.

Even Prince Harry, the other most eligible bachelor in Britain, didn’t rate so many ‘phwoars’ when he went elsewhere on the Olympic trail yesterday.

On the high board, Daley was tanned, discreetly waxed, perfectly groomed and stripped for action. He had said he wanted to ‘do it for Dad’ and, before going into action, he tweeted: ‘After the toughest year of my life, today is the day!’

As it turned out, it wasn’t.

But there’s still another dive, still another day – still another chance at gold at the individual ten metre platform diving event next week.

And, as any true fan could have told you yesterday, there’s still only one Tom Daley.'

Enlarge 

Daley and Waterfield step out the pool after their first dive

An underwater shot of Pete Waterfield (foreground) and Tom Daley after a dive

Support: An estimated 1,500 people - many clutching Union flags - cheered enthusiastically in Plymouth city centre as Daley and his diving partner narrowly missed out on a medal

Prime Minister David Cameron in the crowd at the diving final, alongside CEO of the British Olympic Association Andy Hunt

Frustration: Cameron, left, and French President Francois Hollande, right, later watched a Handball match. He reacts after watching France miss a chance against Spain