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British backpacker Jamie Neale has been accused by his father of not sharing money earned in media interviews, in what has been described as a “murderously nasty” row.

In a brutally blunt interview with the Mail on Sunday, Neale’s dad Richard Cass cast doubt on theories the disappearance was a hoax, but said: “I feel I have been robbed by my own son. I was so glad when he was found but it’s gone from being such a feel-good thing to being murderously nasty. The son I found isn’t the son I went out to look for.”

The public spat surrounds the $100,000 paid to the pair for a 60 Minutes interview on Australian TV.

Mr Cass, a special needs teacher, says he is now barely speaking with his son, who remains in Australia, not yet fit enough to fly. The breakdown has come just a week after the two were dramatically reunited at Katoomba Hospital, after Jamie was lost in the Blue Mountains for almost a fortnight.

On giving cash to the rescue party, Mr Cass said: “There is an argument in Australia that says why should taxpayers pay for very expensive searches for idiots, especially foreigners, who don’t take proper precautions. I feel tremendous sympathy with that view.

“The trail [Jamie] took was signposted for serious bushwalkers and he didn’t sign the register. He left his phone behind and his first-aid kit and emergency blanket was at his uncle’s house in Perth. I’m astonished by the catalogue of errors.

“I accept that Jamie’s in a different position. He did say to me he was going to give an equal amount of money to the hospital and the searchers and he also told me he was going to give some money to the two people who found him who want to remain anonymous.

“But he’s also 19, he’s going to Exeter University and he wants to set himself up in life. I have no problem with him taking a different moral view to me. I’m not going to criticise him for what he chooses to do with his money. But some of it’s my money.”

Jamie Neale has since responded: “I do not plan to get into a public slanging match with my father and will deal with any issues in private.

“What I will say is this. I had an agreement with him regarding his involvement in the 60 Minutes interview – he wanted his flights and the rescue party paid for. I agreed to that and intend to honour that commitment. I am yet to receive the 60 Minutes money – it is due next week – but what I do with it is a matter for me.”

Mr Cass did, however, give more detail on Jamie’s condition when he was rescued, undermining theories that his disappearance was a hoax.

Describing the first moment he saw him, he said: “There he was… looking strange.

“He was obviously very gaunt. His mouth was very different. His teeth were showing because the flesh had withered and shrunk back from his gums. He had this dark snaggle-toothed look.

“And his eyes were startling. They had this horrified stare like a train was hurling down the tracks at him. He was moody. He was completely compos mentis but not seemingly glad to be alive.”