Model ‘forced by police to stay in Italy for weeks’ after kidnapping

A British model who was allegedly kidnapped in Milan was forced by Italian police to stay in the country for weeks after her release, her agent has said.

Chloe Ayling was snatched on 11 July by a group calling itself Black Death while she was attending a photo shoot at a “recognised studio” in the city centre, according to Phil Green.

The 20-year-old model is believed to have been drugged and transported in a bag to Borgial, an isolated village near Turin, and held for six days as her captors tried to auction her online, Italian police said. On Monday, Mr Green, of Supermodels Agency, said she was taken to the British Consulate in Milan after the “horrific ordeal”, but could not return home to London for almost three weeks.

“Chloe had her passport detained by Italian police who would not let her return to the UK until she gave evidence at a pre-trial hearing on 4 August,” he said in a statement.

He added she was able to fly back to the UK on Sunday after attending the crime scene with police and her lawyer the day before.

“Today she is debriefing Met Police and the Foreign Office, and has requested to spend the rest of the day in privacy with her mother,” he added.

There was no sign of Ms Ayling at her terraced home in Coulsdon, south London, yesterday.

According to reports, she said: “I’ve been through a terrifying experience. I feared for my life, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour.

“I am incredibly grateful to the Italian and UK authorities for all they have done to secure my safe release.”

A Polish man who lives in Britain was arrested on 18 July on suspicion of kidnap and extortion, state police said. The suspect is named as Lukasz Pawel Herba, 30.