The man accused of kidnapping British glamour model Chloe Ayling says she staged the crime and wrote her own ransom note in a bid to become famous.
Lukasz Herba, 30, a British-based Polish national, told an Italian court that Miss Ayling concocted the kidnap story to "get publicity".
The Milan hearing has previously been told Miss Ayling was drugged, stripped and handcuffed before being bundled into a suitcase in the boot of a car.
But Herba alleged she willingly wore the handcuffs for just a few minutes while a kidnap photograph was taken to send to her modelling agent in Britain.
"Chloe said we could split the money and go out together," Herba told the court. "It was a plan to help Chloe get publicity. The idea was to make up the kidnap to make her famous.
"She wrote [the ransom notes] with me. She collaborated. She knew that when all the scandal was over she would earn a lot of money and publicity."
Model Chloe Ayling speaks with the media outside of her house in Surrey, England. File picture: RAI via AP
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He claimed Miss Ayling, pictured, told him she needed money after the birth of her child, who was two at the time.
Herba denied injecting Miss Ayling with the horse tranquilliser ketamine, and said that rather than being bundled into a large hold-all, she had willingly got inside the bag herself.
Previous claims that the model from Coulsdon, Surrey, staged the ordeal to gain publicity were dismissed by a judge at an earlier hearing.
Yesterday Herba was repeatedly challenged in court over contradictory claims he has made regarding the incident in July last year. Judge Ilio Mannucci Pacini said he would consider ordering Herba to undergo psychiatric tests.
"You can see he is not well," prosecutor Paolo Storari said. "He’s dangerous and no-one will believe him after he changed versions constantly."
Francesco Pesce, Miss Ayling’s lawyer, told the court: "I don’t know if he even realises he’s lying. He is probably disconnected from reality and I agree we need psychiatric tests.’
Katia Kolakowska, Herba’s lawyer, said she would not object if the judge ordered the mental evaluation. The trial continues.