Harrowing real-life events that inspired BBC kidnap drama The Chloe Ayling Story

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The BBC's six-part dramatisation of the abduction of Page 3 model Chloe Ayling is set to premiere this week, but what really happened that fateful summer in 2017 and its aftermath?

At just 20 years old, Ayling was working at lawyer and DJ Phil Green's Supermodel Agency in London. In March of that year, Green arranged a photoshoot for her, which turned out to be a plot orchestrated by Polish computer programmer Lukasz Herba, who went by the pseudonym 'Andre Lazio'.

The initial shoot fell through, leading to another being organised in Milan. However, upon arriving in Milan, Ayling was drugged with ketamine, kidnapped, and woke up handcuffed in the boot of a car.

When Ayling failed to return to the UK, her mother Beata contacted Green, who then alerted the police.

Green later received a ransom email demanding $300,000 from The Black Death Group. This turned out to be a fictitious crime group created by Ayling's kidnapper Herba, who also penned the email under the alias 'MD', reports the Mirror.

Nadia Parkes plays model Chloe Ayling in the upcoming BBC drama (Image: BBC)

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The threat was that if the money wasn't paid, Ayling would be sold as a sex slave on the dark web. Green reached out to the UK consulate in Milan.

Italian law enforcement visited the address of the Milan studio, where they found some of Ayling's clothes. However, due to insufficient evidence, their investigation slowed down.

After six days, on Monday, July 17, Ayling and her kidnapper Herba appeared at the British consulate in Milan. As a condition of her release, he had asked her to publicise the Black Death crime group, which Ayling agreed to in order to secure her freedom.

Chloe Ayling was abducted in July 2017 (Image: Ken McKay/ITV/REX/Shutterstock)

During his criminal trial, it was revealed that Herba had drugged his victim with ketamine, handcuffed her, forced Ayling into a holdall bag and transported her in the boot of a car to a farmhouse just outside Turin.

Throughout the abduction, Herba used his 'MD' alias in an attempt to gain the model's trust. In his defence, he claimed that he had fallen for Ayling and was simply trying to boost her career through scandal.

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Fast forward to June 2018, Herba was eventually found guilty of kidnapping and sentenced to 16 years and nine months in prison. His brother Micha was also handed a 16-year and eight-month sentence after it was discovered he had played a part in the terrifying ordeal.

However, both sentences were later reduced on appeal; ukasz is now serving 12 years and one month, while Micha is serving five years and eight months.

All episodes of Kidnapped: The Chloe Ayling Story are on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Wednesday, August 14 with episodes airing on BBC Three from 9pm that night.

Harrowing real-life events that inspired BBC kidnap drama The Chloe Ayling Story

Harrowing real-life events that inspired BBC kidnap drama The Chloe Ayling Story

Harrowing real-life events that inspired BBC kidnap drama The Chloe Ayling Story

Harrowing real-life events that inspired BBC kidnap drama The Chloe Ayling Story

Harrowing real-life events that inspired BBC kidnap drama The Chloe Ayling Story