Model Chloe Ayling, 20, claimed to have been snatched by a group calling itself Black Death. Photo / Facebook
Model Chloe Ayling, 20, claimed to have been snatched by a group calling itself Black Death. Photo / Facebook
By Mark Duell
A British model today broke down in tears on TV as she defended herself over doubts about her six-day alleged kidnap ordeal in Italy and why she went shoe-shopping with an "armed assassin".
Chloe Ayling, 20, said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan before being bundled into the boot of a car and told she was going to be sold as a sex slave.
Today, the model from Coulsdon, South London, told ITV's This Morning that she blamed her agent for not performing sufficient checks over the shoot, said she was wishing for a "non-painful death" and that doubts over her story were "hurtful", the Daily Mail reported.
Her comments divided viewers, with some saying they did not believe the dramatic details of her story - while others said this was only because she is a woman and a glamour model.
Ayling also recalled the "absolute panic" of her ordeal which saw her wake up in the boot in a zip-up bag with a taped mouth and handcuffs on her feet and hands.
She told ITV's This Morning: "It is really hurtful to see people doubt my story. Like when I went shoe shopping apparently, which was to the camping shop to get shoes for the consulate, people were saying why didn't I run?
"It's easy for them to say that but when you're in my situation it's not that easy. I was with an assassin that's always armed, I'd been shown knives.
Chloe Ayling said she was injected with ketamine after being lured to a fake modelling shoot in Milan before being bundled into the boot of a car. Photo / Facebook
"So I couldn't just try and put my life in the hands of a random Italian woman.If I couldn't communicate with her, or she didn't care, then I'd risk my life."
Ayling claimed to have been snatched by a group calling itself Black Death last month before being drugged and transported in a bag to an isolated village near Turin.
She said she was held for six days there as her captors tried to auction her online - and first realised something was wrong when she arrived at the 'studio'.
Ayling told This Morning: "When I walked into the 'studio' there was just silence. Normally someone would greet you at the door, closer to the door, but I just didn't hear anything.
"So that's why when I saw the door saying 'studio' on it I went to open it, but before I had the time to quickly process my thoughts that is exactly when the masked man put his arm round my neck and my mouth and nose.
"And another one came to the front of me and injected me in my wrist. Two men, two masks. Absolute panic - I didn't know what it was, I didn't know why they were doing it.
At this point I still thought someone wrong had got me and the shoot was still supposed to go on. I didn't connect it as a set up."
Ayling, who was bundled into the boot of a car and told she was going to be sold as a sex slave, also spoke about the moment when she woke up.
She said: "I woke up in the boot of a car in a zip-up bag and I had tape on my mouth and handcuffs on my feet and on my hands. It was a really hot day. It was horrible.
"I was still drugged up - I didn't process it automatically. I was trying to shout and trying to find my way out but I didn't know what was happening.
"The car was moving and the radio was blaring as well, so I couldn't really get the attention, so I had to really raise my voice, like 'driver, driver, where are we?'
"And then it took a while for them to actually pull over the car and come round the back."
She continued: "It was when they put the pull over, I saw through the gap that they'd put an empty suitcase above it, and at that point I thought that I was going to die.
"Because what other reason would they put an empty suitcase about my size on top? I was hoping for a non-painful death. I try to be as strong as possible."
Ayling was eventually taken to the British Consulate in Milan, but could not return home to London for almost three weeks.
She told This Morning: "I was in Italy for three weeks before I actually came home to the UK, so what people here didn't witness was me crying almost every day, me being too paranoid to leave my room, any noises I hear I would freak out, having nightmares - no one here witnessed that.
"I only started to get more reassured as it came to the end of the three-week period when police were trying to reassure me that they know the truth of the story and I don't have to be as fearful as I am now when I return to the UK."
Ayling was freed after six days when a captor took her to the British consulate. She said she was told she would be killed by Black Death if she tried to flee.
On a website, the group purports to sell weapons and drugs, arrange murders and conduct human trafficking. But police say they have not determined whether the organisation is real, and many cyber-experts are sceptical about its claims.
Meanwhile, the chief suspect in the alleged kidnap has said he did not knowingly take part in any crime.
Lukasz Pawel Herba says 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.
