A British model who was allegedly kidnapped in Milan was too terrified to try to get away from her captor when he took her shoe shopping and to buy groceries, her lawyer said.
Italian police said Chloe Ayling was snatched last month by a group calling itself Black Death and is believed to have been drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin, where she was held for six days as her captors tried to auction her online.
The 20-year-old was told people were watching her and she would be killed if she tried to flee, meaning she complied with what her captor asked her to do, her lawyer Francesco Pesce said.
He told Radio 4’s Today programme: “She was told that she was going to be sold to somebody in the Middle East for sex.
“She was told that people were there watching her and ready to kill her if she tried anything.
“So she thought that the best idea was to go along with it and to be nice in a way to her captor because he told her that he wanted to release her somehow and sometime and she thought that the best thing to do was not to go in conflict with him.
Model Chloe Ayling (right) prepares to get on a motorbike outside her home in Coulsdon, south London (Georgina Stubbs/PA)
“So she abided to his request, ‘let’s go and buy groceries’ and ‘you need shoes, let’s go buy shoes’ and she didn’t try to flee.
“But I believe she was terrified at the moment and even if she could’ve asked for help she didn’t because she was subjugated to this person, or people as she was given to understand.”
Mr Pesce dismissed suggestions Ms Ayling may have somehow been in on the kidnap, describing it as “evil”.
Key dates and locations in the alleged kidnap of British model Chloe Ayling (PA graphic)
The Sun reported she told police she had developed a trusting relationship and even shared a bed with her kidnapper, who gave her chocolate and underwear, but she said he had not sexually assaulted her.
On Monday, Phil Green, of Supermodels Agency, said Ms Ayling 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 August 4,” he said in a statement.
The 20-year-old woman was kept captive at this property in Borgial, Italy (PA)
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.
She said: “I’ve been through a terrifying experience. I feared for my life, second by second, minute by minute, hour by hour.
The room where Ms Ayling was kept against her will (PA)
“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 July 18 on suspicion of kidnap and extortion, state police said.
Officials released a mugshot of the suspect, named as 30-year-old Lukasz Pawel Herba.
Ms Ayling left her house on Tuesday morning, wearing black leggings and a gold-coloured jacket.
Pulling on a white helmet and black coat, she climbed on to the pillion seat of a motorbike before it set off in the direction of Purley, south London.
When quizzed by the Press Association about the alleged kidnapping, Ms Ayling’s mother would not answer any questions and simply said: “You need to ask Chloe.”
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