Explosive CCTV footage of model walking hand-in-hand with her ‘kidnapper’ shown at trial

CCTV footage of British model Chloe Ayling walking hand-in-hand with her “kidnapper” has prompted speculation the crime was actually a publicity stunt.

BRIT model Chloe Ayling is sensationally pictured holding hands with her alleged kidnapper on CCTV the day before she was released, an Italian court has heard.

The explosive image appears to show Chloe, 20, and suspect Lukasz Herba wearing matching outfits while strolling through the streets of Turin last year.

Chloe Ayling.

Mum of one Ayling claims she was drugged and bundled into the back of a car by Herba when she showed up for a fake photo shoot.

She was eventually released five days later but only after going clothes shopping with Herba, prompting speculation the kidnap was a publicity stunt.

Chloe Ayling is pictured holding hands with alleged kidnapper Lukasz Herba the day before she was released.

The court heard Herba hatched a plan where he agreed to let Chloe go but only if certain conditions were met — or he would kill her and her family.

He said he wanted 50,000 bitcoins to be paid, and she was to say she had not been kidnapped or mention the Black Death group while also saying she had been treated well.

The court heard Ayling had endured “physical and psychological violence” during her kidnap, having been drugged, bundled into a large black holdall and injected with ketamine.

CCTV footage of Chloe Ayling with her alleged kidnapper Lukasz Herba.

She had also been handcuffed and threatened but according to investigators this was all part of a plot by the brothers to make one of them appear “good” so she would not complain.

The court heard how Herba portrayed himself as a “mythomaniac adventurer” who claimed to have kidnapped and killed before in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In the email he sent to Chloe’s agent he attached pictures of her lying semi naked on the floor in an unconscious state.

Lukasz Herba arrives at a Milan court today ahead of his trial over the alleged kidnapping of model Chloe Ayling. Picture: Paul Edwards/The Sun

The court was also shown pictures of a large black holdall in which they say she was bundled and kept hidden in during the four drive from Milan to the hide-out near Turin.

Prosecutors and cops say she was snatched by balaclava wearing thugs in Milan last July and held at an isolated farmhouse near Turin.

The hand holding footage was taken on July 16 in Viu near Turin the day before Chloe was taken to the British Consulate in Milan by Herba.

Footage of him walking into the building with Chloe wearing a tracksuit was also shown to the packed hearing.

Ayling says she was kidnapped by sex slavers. Picture: Instagram @chloeayling.

The court heard how Mr Green, of Supermodel Agency, raised the alarm after she failed to return calls and contacted the British consulate in Milan who alerted cops.

He then allegedly received an email from Herba, 30, which read: “I am MD a medium level killer representing Black Death.

“The girl has been taken and she will be auctioned online in the Middle East.”

As the email was read out Polish-born Lukas, who claims the plot was a publicity stunt, shook his head several times as the interpreter translated it for him.

‘Kidnapped’ model Chloe Ayling pictured leaving her Coulsdon home in August. Picture: Dan Charity/The Sun

The court heard he was willing to release the mum-of-one one for £250,000 ($443,000) as the Black Death group did not kidnap “young mothers”.

Chloe was drugged and held captive in an isolated farmhouse for six days before being released, it has been claimed.

Several police officers are due to give evidence in the trial but bizarrely Chloe has been excused from testifying although defence lawyers plan to appeal the decision.

Herba dressed in a blue fleece arrived in court flanked by two prison officers for the start of the trial.

Ayling says she was transported in this car boot.

Initially he sat in cage of the court but later judge Ilio Mannucci Pacini allowed him to sit on a bench next to his lawyer.

Prosecutors say Herba was part of the Black Death group and he planned to sell her into the sex trade.

The court in Milan heard how Herba had initially contacted Chloe’s UK agent Mr Green for a photo shoot in Paris last April.

She flew to the French capital but the assignment was cancelled at the last minute by Herba who was allegedly using a bogus name saying his camera gear had been stolen.

Police say this was the start of the kidnap planning and a month later Herba bought two balaclavas online as well as a fake ID for him and his brother Michal.

Chloe Ayling pictured at home for a shoot with The Sun. Picture: Chris Eades/The Sun

He is also accused of taking part in the kidnap but is in custody in Britain awaiting extradition to Italy and will be tried at a later date.

Chief investigator Serena Ferrari said they had discovered an email in which Lukas asked his brother to buy “big bag” telling him “you know what we are going to do with it”.

Deputy head of Milan flying squad Serena Ferrari added how Lukas has booked a hotel room at the Best Western hotel in Milan for Chloe.

He also rented a flat close to the city’s main station and a small photographic studio paying upfront in cash and using the fake ID.

Lukasz Herba.

She described how Lukas contacted Chloe’s agent again and she was booked for a shoot in July in Milan and she called Mr Green to say she had safely arrived in checked in on July 10.

The following day she went to the studio but Ms Ferrari said: “Chloe was grabbed and injected with a drug we now know was ketamine.

“The people who grabbed her wore balaclavas and the next thing she remembered is waking up in the boot of the car.

“She was threatened various times during the journey from Milan to a small village near Turin where Lukas Herba had rented a small property.”

Chloe from Croydon, south London, who insists she is not part of any scam, has seen her Instagram account swell to more than 290,000 followers since the kidnap.

Chloe Ayling’s Instagram account has received a boost. Picture: Instagram

She was recently pictured in Switzerland but is now back home where she was seen walking her dog in countryside near her home.

The so-called Black Death group is described as an organisation operating deep within the “dark web” rumoured to be responsible for a network of kidnapping and people trafficking.

The name is notorious on sections of the internet due to the scale and depravity of its alleged offences, though it’s not clear if the photos it uses touting women for sale are authentic, nor if it is as proficient as it claims to be.

In the email he sent to Chloe’s agent, Herba attached pictures of her lying semi naked on the floor in an unconscious state.

It has been reported that users of the “dark web” pay huge fees to buy women who have been kidnapped from across Europe.

A 2015 article by Vice’s Motherboard stated their reporter had found images of women chained up with the victim being offered for sale for £115,000 ($204,000).

Lukasz Herba was arrested on July 17 after delivering Chloe to the British consulate in Milan. She says he took pity on her after she told him she had a two-year-old son.

This article originally appeared on The Sun.