Kidnapped Model Returns To UK After Home Searched By Police In Oldbury

7 August 2017, 09:12 | Updated: 7 August 2017, 09:35

A British model kidnapped in Italy has arrived back in the UK after a man was arrested by West Midlands Police.

20-year-old woman Chloe Ayling, was attacked on July 11 by two men as she attended an arranged photo shoot.

She is believed to have been drugged and transported in a bag to Borgial, an isolated village near Turin, before being released on July 17, Italian Police said.

Ms Ayling has now flown back to the UK and returned to her home in Coulsdon, south London.

Speaking on her doorstep she told how she had feared for her life throughout the "terrifying experience".

A Polish man, who lives in Britain, was arrested on July 18 on suspicion of kidnap and extortion, state police said.

Officials have released a mugshot of the suspect, named as 30-year-old Lukasz Pawel Herba.

It is alleged two men tried to sell Ms Ayling online for more than $300,000 (£230,000) and demanded the model's agent pay to secure her safe release.

She was kept handcuffed to furniture but was freed after six days and taken to the British consulate in Milan, despite the ransom not being paid.

It has been reported the captor demanded £50,000 upon her release and threatened to kill her if she told police about the incident.

Milan police officer Lorenzo Bucossi told reporters the group the suspect was allegedly working for offered "mercenary services" on the dark web.

According to a translation on Sky News, Mr Bucossi said: "Certainly the author of this very serious crime is a dangerous person, don't forget he was also ready to carry out a 'final solution', as he called it.

"He was a killer and was working for an organisation on the deep web that is offering mercenary services such as bombing attacks, kidnapping and the selling of girls on the dark web."

Italian police said they are working with officials in Britain and Poland as they continue to investigate.

A spokeswoman for West Midlands Police said an address in Sampson Close in Oldbury was raided on July 18 in connection with the investigation.