‘Kidnap’ model will not be made to return to Italy

A British glamour model who claims she was kidnapped for sale as a sex slave will not have to return to Italy to give evidence in the trial of her alleged abductor, a court ruled yesterday.

The decision came on the first day of the trial in Milan of Lukasz Herba, a 30-year-old Polish man who is accused of kidnapping Ms Ayling, from Coulsdon, Surrey, in July. The court denied a request by his lawyers to compel Ms Ayling to give evidence.

Instead, testimony the 20-year-old gave to Italian police will be submitted to the court. Herba has denied the charges and claims the “kidnapping” was a publicity stunt, arranged with the complicity of Ms Ayling.