According to one of the accused kidnappers, the British boy who was a former pupil at a public school in Britain was allegedly abducted by his captors in Italy last month.
Video footage shows Sam Demilecamps, 25, cooking meals for the people accused of kidnapping him in Monte San Giusto last month, their lawyer insisted in the latest move to cast doubt on his story.
Vando Scheggia, Attorney Vando Scheggia stated that Mr Demilecamps was kept in prison by the gang to pay his debts.
He shared clips from both his and those he claimed was kidnapped’s social media. They show them enjoying sunsets and clubs, as well as waterfalls just before he stated that he had been abducted.
Mr Demilecamps, who went to £36,000-a-year Lord Wandsworth College in Hampshire, was found by police tied to a ladder on October 13.
Sam Demilecamps (25 years old) claimed that he was kept captive in Monte San Giusto central Italy by a gang. He said that they beat, tortured, and gave him leftovers ‘like a dog’.
Sam Demilecamps was present when the police entered his apartment. Mr Demilecamps, 25, was found malnourished and chained to a stepladder after he phoned his estranged father saying he needed £6,000
According to investigators, he claimed that he had been held hostage for eight days. He was forced to eat scraps of food and lived off them for the rest of his life.
The alleged incident was discovered when the victim sent his desperate father a text message, which alerted authorities.
“I owe money very dangerous people,” the message read. ‘This is matter of life and death — if I don’t get 7,000 euros (£6,000) I’m dead tomorrow.’
A number of friends received similar desperate messages. They also alerted authorities. Italian law enforcement, working in conjunction with the National Crime Agency (NCA), traced the phone signal to the flat.
On charges of “kidnapping with the intention of extortion”, three young men and one woman were brought to court.
Aurora Carpani (age 20), is one of the four men arrested for the kidnapping the Briton
But Mr Scheggia, who represents Ahmed Rajraji, 21, one of the alleged kidnappers, told the Daily Mirror: ‘If this was a real kidnap they could have taken him in June and asked for €600,000.
“Yes, Demilecamps was taken against his will. They treated him very well. They made him eat leftovers, but he would cook for them.
‘During the five to six days he was in the house he managed to get friends to send €1,500. He thought he would escape when he realized he couldn’t get any more. He was placed in handcuffs.
Lawyer claimed that Mr Demilecamps had spent June to August in the vicinity with the kidnappers.
Mr Demilecamps had been in Italy since June, visiting Naples, Sorrento, Bologna and Florence, before arriving on the Adriatic coast in July, where he is said to have met the four: Rubens Beliga Gnaga, 18, Mr Rajraji, Dona Conte, 22, and his girlfriend, Aurora Carpani, 20.
According to him, he was taken from Florence’s park, having been in a hotel, and bundled in a car that drove more than 200 miles south towards Monte San Giusto.
Demilecamps made the following statement before a judge: “My captors had witnessed me spend lavishly.”
I was kicked, punched, and then they used a pepper spray and taser to get me in a car. Then, they gave me tranquilizers.
They drove me to Monte San Giusto. I was held underwater in a bath and beaten.’
House arrest is currently being applied to the alleged kidnappers. This could last up to 4 months.
A new judge could reduce the charges. He could be summoned to trial if he gave false information.
However, if the charges are not dismissed, kidnapping with the intent to extort can result in a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment.