UK model abduction case ‘may have been fabricated as a publicity stunt’

A lawyer representing a suspect accused of kidnapping a British model says the entire case may have been fabricated as a publicity stunt.

The case involves British model Chloe Ayling, who said in August she had been lured to Milan for a phony photo shoot, then drugged, stuffed into a suitcase and held by criminals who offered to auction her online unless her agent paid a €300,000 (£264,000) ransom.

The scheme was said to have been carried out by a littleknown group called “Black Death”.

One suspect, 30-year-old Lukasz Herba, is in custody in Italy, having been arrested after delivering Ayling to the British Embassy on 17 July, six days after she was reportedly kidnapped. He denies wrongdoing.

His brother, Michal Herba, was in Westminster Magistrates Court yesterday to fight extradition to Italy. His lawyer, George Hepburne Scott, said there were numerous problems with the case that suggest the model’s claims were fabricated.

Scott said “there is a real risk that the entire case is a sham” that fooled Italian detectives.