Man due at extradition hearing over model's alleged kidnapping

A man will appear in court today for an extradition hearing after being arrested over the alleged kidnapping of a British model in Italy.

Chloe Ayling is believed to have been snatched by a group calling itself Black Death after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan last month.

Chief suspect Lukasz Pawel Herba has said he did not knowingly take part in any crime, and on Wednesday the National Crime Agency (NCA) said his brother, Michal Konrad Herba, had been arrested.

The 36-year-old was detained by officers from West Midlands Police and East Midlands Special Operations Unit (EMSOU) at an address in the Tividale area of Sandwell, West Midlands.

Michal Konrad Herba was apprehended on a European Arrest Warrant issued by the Italian authorities and will appear at London's Westminster Magistrates' Court, the NCA said.

Italian police have said Ms Ayling was 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 said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to a fake modelling shoot before being bundled into the boot of a car and told she was going to be sold as a sex slave.

Ms Ayling, from Coulsdon, south London, was eventually taken to the British Consulate in Milan after the "horrific ordeal", but could not return home to London for almost three weeks.

Lukasz Pawel Herba has said his involvement stems from wanting to raise money to treat his leukaemia and that he was hired by a group of Romanians to rent properties around Europe to store garments they were selling, according to reports.

He is also said to have told investigators he posed as a photographer and met Ms Ayling.

He said he was paid £500,000, found out the Romanians intended to kidnap her, and backed out of the plan.

The NCA said it and EMSOU are providing specialist support to the Italian Polizia di Stato as part of the investigation.