British Hostage In Italy is Freed by Police After Eight Days Captive
A 25-year-old British tourist has been freed by police after being found handcuffed in an Italian apartment after his parents raised the alarm with the National Crime Agency
Italian police have have freed a 25-year-old British man who had been kidnapped in Italy, the man who was found barefooted and handcuffed in an apartment had been held captive for eight days.
The mans name has not yet been released, however, it has been confirmed he was from London and was on holiday in Italy when he was kidnapped by a group of four people and kept prisoner in Monte San Giusto, a town in Macerata province in the central Marche region of Italy.
His captors allowed him to call his parents, who were back in the UK, but only to let him request they send him €7,000 to secure his safe release, using a coded message his parents quickly understood that he was being held against his will.
The unnamed man's father quickly contacted the NCA (National Crime Agency), who then alerted the Italian national police.
Lieutenant colonel Massimiliano Mengasini, from the Ros Carabinieri special operations group, said the British man was found and released on Wednesday, October 14th. The Italian police have arrested three men and one woman over the alleged kidnapping.
Mengasini said, “He had been kept in the dark room of an apartment, handcuffed and barefoot. We are still working to shed light on the case,”
Authorities confirmed that the British man was in good physical health, despite only being fed sparingly throughout his imprisonment, they noted that he had been "psychologically tested" by the ordeal.
Sean Kelly, an operations manager for the NCA’s anti-kidnap and extortion unit (AKEU), said: “We have been working closely with the Italian authorities since the kidnap of a British man was reported.
“NCA officers in Italy and specialists from AKEU, working together with UK policing, have been providing close support to the carabinieri police as part of its ongoing investigation. We are pleased that this incident has been resolved successfully.”
The man told police how he had been staying in Italy since early June after travelling to the country to escape the UK after the coronavirus lockdown situation.
He had been travelling all over Italy for the last few months and had visited several cities including Naples, Sorrento, Florence and Bologna, before arriving in Macerata.
At the time of the kidnapping the man, from London, was with a friend who had managed to escape and inform relatives back in the UK about the situation.
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