The kidnapping alleged of a former British schoolboy in Italy has raised new doubts.
Sam Demilecamps, 25, was found malnourished and chained to a radiator after he phoned his estranged father saying he needed £6,000 or would be dead the next day.
Later, he revealed to officers that he had been held hostage for three days by three men and one woman.
Sam Demilecamps (25), with his mother Jally. He was barred from the Brighton pub next to his former flat last night
But one of the suspects has since told a judge the ‘kidnap’ two weeks ago was all Mr Demilecamps’s idea – to pay off a debt.
His own family admitted that they don’t know who to trust.
The suspects were released under house arrest. Their alleged victim is understood have returned to Britain. Meanwhile, police investigations continue.
It is not the first time the former boarding school pupil – who describes himself as an ‘adrenaline junkie’ – has needed emergency help.
Mr Demilecamps attended the £36,000-a-year Hampshire boarding school Lord Wandsworth College. He now describes himself a chef
Five years ago, he had to be rescued after leaping into the sea from a 180ft cliff in Sicily ‘for a dare’.
Last night, Mr Demilecamps was barred from the pub near his former Brighton flat. He could not be reached for comment.
His father Patrick Demilecamps, a former investment banker who used to work in England but now lives in Brussels, said: ‘I don’t have anything to add to what has already become public knowledge.’
His stepfather Derek McCall, 61, managing director of a biotechnology company, and skin therapist mother Jally, 60, declined to discuss the ‘kidnap’ at their £2.5million mansion in Hampshire.
Mr. Demilecamps is seen being rescued by his friend after he tried to jump off a 180ft cliff at Taormina in Sicily in 2016.
But a source close to the family said: ‘His dad lost contact with him a long time ago – then he was suddenly contacted by Sam during this “event” in Italy.
‘He told him: “I owe money to very dangerous people. This is a matter of life and death – if I don’t get 7,000 euros I’m dead tomorrow.”
‘But now it seems the situation is not quite what it appeared – and the so-called kidnappers are saying it was fraud all planned by Sam.’
The source added: ‘And what sort of kidnapper would let their hostage have a mobile phone – when everyone knows the police will be able to track them?
‘We all know about Sam’s cliff jump. That sums up what he’s like. And he spends money he hasn’t got.’
The former boarding school pupil – who describes himself as an ‘adrenaline junkie’ – has in the past needed emergency help for jumping off a cliff for a dare
Mr Demilecamps, who attended £36,000-a-year Hampshire boarding school Lord Wandsworth College and now describes himself as a chef, had been in Italy since June, and at the start of October was at a hostel in Florence.
After his father called asking for 7,000 euros from him, officers located him within 36 hours and launched an attack.
They found Mr Demilecamps chained up and barefoot in a darkened bedroom in a top-floor flat in Monte San Giusto, central Italy.
Suspects Rubens Belliga Gnaga (18), an Italian, Dona Conte (22) from Guinea, Ahmed Rajraji (21) from Morocco, and Aida Carpani (20) from Montenegro were all arrested on suspicion that they had kidnapped.
Gnaga, however, told an Italian court: ‘It was a sham. We had lent him €7,000. The kidnapping was staged to convince his family to send us the money.’
They were placed under house arrest, and the investigation continues.
According to English friends, Mr. Demilecamps was traveling with them when he claimed that they had corroborated his claims.
Mr Demilecamps told police: ‘My captors had seen me spending lavishly. They punched me with a taser, pepper spray, and kicked me. Then they dragged me into the car and gave me tranquillisers.
‘They drove them to Monte San Giusto. I was held underwater in the bath and beaten.’
Carabinieri officer Massimiliano Mengasini said: ‘When [he was] found he was really shaken.’
Sean Kelly, National Crime Agency anti-kidnap and extortion unit operations manager, said: ‘We are pleased that this incident has been resolved successfully.’
But an Italian police source added: ‘There are certain aspects which are still being looked at – such as the small amount of ransom demanded, and the fact he already knew the kidnappers.’
After jumping 180ft from a Sicilian cliff, he broke his vertebra in November 2016.
At the time a police spokes- man said: ‘He was certainly fortunate to survive.’