Italian police have described Lukasz Pawel Herba, the man accused of kidnapping British model Chloe Ayling, as a fantasist. The 30-year-old Polish national, who lives in Britain, allegedly attacked Ayling when she arrived in Milan for a photoshoot last month. She was drugged and held captive for six days before being released outside the British consulate.
Herba claimed to belong to a gang called Black Death, which he said planned to sell Ayling into slavery via a dark web auction for over £230,000. However, police have found no evidence of the gang's existence. Europol stated it had only one mention of Black Death on its database, which did not confirm its reality.
Herba's story has shifted, with reports that he told police he has leukaemia and was coerced into the kidnapping by a group of Romanians in Birmingham. Milan police official Lorenzo Bucossi said: 'The demands for a ransom were sent from his computer – whether he was operating as part of a group, or made it up, we can’t say.'
During her captivity, Ayling was taken shopping for shoes. Her lawyer, Francesco Pesce, said she was under psychological subjugation and feared harm from other gang members if she tried to escape. 'Chloe told me that she was very scared and wanted to do everything she could to go along with everything in order to make [her captor] release her,' Pesce told the Guardian.
Police are searching for at least one accomplice, believed to be Herba's brother, Mikail Herba. The UK's National Crime Agency has searched a house in Oldbury, West Midlands, linked to the suspect, and is examining seized computer equipment.
