A man has been jailed for more than 16 years for kidnapping the British model Chloe Ayling in Italy last July.
A court in Milan found Lukasz Herba, 30, guilty of abduction and trying to secure a ransom over the dark web for the release of Ayling, from Coulsdon, south London.
Prosecutors said Herba drugged Ayling, 20, with ketamine after she arrived for what she thought was a photoshoot at a Milan address. She was bundled into a canvas bag and transported to a farmhouse in the neighbouring Piedmont region, where she was handcuffed to furniture for at least the first night, the court heard.
She was held for six days at the farmhouse before Herba escorted her to the British consulate in Milan, the court was told before the verdict was delivered on Monday.
Ayling’s agent, Adrian Sington, said she felt vindicated.
“This has been an incredible burden on her shoulders for the last year in the face of media criticism of her motivation, and this is vindication – her story is true,” he said.
The case had initially been greeted with scepticism in the media.
Herba, 30, had claimed that Ayling agreed to the kidnapping scheme to boost her career. He said he was in love with Ayling, and they had concocted the plot to help her overcome financial difficulties after the birth of her son.
Sington said: “It’s hard if you’re being painted in the press as a liar, and now she’s able to be able to say: ‘I know it’s a bizarre story but it’s a true one.’”
He said Herba’s behaviour and account of the kidnapping was so extraordinary it was not surprising the media found Ayling’s story difficult to believe.
Ayling told police she had been snatched by an international criminal gang that planned to sell her to a Middle Eastern buyer for more than £230,000 to be sexually abused.
When doubts were first reported about her story, Ayling described them as “frustrating and hurtful”.
She told investigators she never tried to escape, even when taken shopping, because she was terrified. She believed Herba was part of a bigger gang, that he claimed was called Black Death and that had her under constant surveillance.
Ayling said she had been told she would be auctioned over the dark web because she was not able to come up with the €300,000 (£265,000) ransom.
Herba admitted he had invented the gang and that his brother, Michal, was helping him in the scheme agreed by Ayling.
Italian prosecutors are seeking the brother’s extradition from Britain.
Herba said he did not tell police that Ayling was in on the scheme during his initial statements because he believed she would come forward.
During closing arguments, his lawyer, Katia Kolakowska, cited an email she received from a US film producer who pointed out that Ayling’s story closely matched the plot of the film By Any Means, which was released a few weeks before the kidnapping.
In his closing arguments, the prosecutor Paolo Storari noted that Herba had invested at least €10,000 in the kidnapping, taking into account property rentals and travel. He said it was unrealistic that Herba would have done so only to get a ransom from a young woman without any means.
The prosecutor also cited Herba’s purchase of two ski masks, which Ayling said she saw kidnappers wearing when she was freed from the canvas bag. He reminded the court that Herba passed a note to his brother telling him to clean the boot of the car well to ensure there were no traces of Ayling’s hair.
Her lawyer, Francesco Pesce, told the Guardian: “I am very happy and Chloe is very happy.
“Chloe should now try and claim damages from the media that gratuitously bashed her story just to get some clicks.
“It was clear that Herba’s [testimony in court] was just another story. This was the first time he told this story.”