Tom Daley's mum backing son over malicious tweets during Olympics

London, Aug 5 (ANI): British diver Tom Daley's mum Debbie has come forward to defend her son after internet trolls bullied him for missing out on a medal at the Olympics.

A 17-year-old boy was arrested on Tuesday for sending "malicious" Twitter messages directed at Daley.

Police arrested the boy in Weymouth, southwest England, after Daley received the messages referring to his father who died last year from brain cancer.

User Rileyy_69 wrote: "You let your dad down i hope you know that."

A police spokesman said the youth was arrested "on suspicion of malicious communication. He is currently helping police with their inquiries."

Now, Daleys mum has jumped in to protect his son over malicious tweets which has been aimed at the British diver.

"As the mother of an Olympic contender, however, you can't say any of this for fear of derailing your child's gold medal dream. For the duration of these Games, Tom must focus only on his training and his performance in the pool. The hate and bile unleashed by a Twitter troll cannot interfere with his concentration. He won't allow it and therefore neither can I," the Daily Mail quoted her as saying.

"It's up to me to be the buffer between the shock felt by our family and the intended victim of this internet abuse: Tom. He did not respond to the troll personally, he simply retweeted the abusive message so that his thousands of genuine fans could see what he has to cope with. That was far better than brooding about it - we all know the one thing bullies hate most of all is brave exposure.

"In retrospect, I think I was more upset than Tom. He is capable of compartmentalising his life and lets stuff like this go over his head. He has to. But I had that motherly instinct to protect. Tom might be 18 and more than capable of handling the bullies but he's still my son and I am the only parent left to defend him," she added. (ANI)