MODEL ‘FAKED HER KIDNAP FOR FAME’
THE man accused of kidnapping British glamour model Chloe Ayling says she staged the crime and wrote her own ransom note in a bid to become famous.
Lukasz Herba, 30, a Britainbased Polish national, told an Italian court that Ms Ayling concocted the kidnap story to “get publicity”.
The Milan hearing has previously been told Ms Ayling was drugged, stripped and handcuffed before being put in a suitcase in a car boot.
But Herba alleged she willingly wore the handcuffs for a few minutes while a kidnap photo was taken to send to her modelling agent in Britain.
“Chloe said we could split the money and go out together,” Herba told the court.
He claimed Ms Ayling told him she needed money after the birth of her child, who was two at the time.
Herba denied injecting Ms Ayling with the horse tranquilliser ketamine, and said that rather than being bundled into a large hold-all, she willingly entered the bag herself.
Previous claims that the model from Coulsdon, Surrey, staged the ordeal to gain publicity were dismissed by a judge at an earlier hearing.
Yesterday Judge Ilio Mannucci Pacini said he would consider ordering Herba to undergo psychiatric tests.
“You can see he is not well,” prosecutor Paolo Storari said.
Francesco Pesce, Ms Ayling’s lawyer, told the court: “I don’t know if he even realises he’s lying. He is probably disconnected from reality and I agree we need psychiatric tests.”
The trial continues.