Internet love horror

An Australian farmer has warned of the dangers of internet dating after escaping the clutches of a gang who held him hostage after he fell for an internet bride scam.

Des Gregor, 56, arrived back in Adelaide last night after being held captive for twelve days by a machete-wielding gang in Mali.

And he only escaped after police tricked his captors.

He initially travelled to the African country last month believing he was going to meet his future bride, a Liberian refugee called Natacha in her 20s, and pocket a £43,000 dowry.

When Mr Gregor, 56, arrived at the airport he was greeted by people claiming to be members of Natacha's family. But instead he was escorted to a flat in the Malian capital Bamako where he was stripped naked, had a gun held to his head and beaten with a machete.

'The first indication I had there was something wrong was when we got to the flat, they called out for somebody's name and the person that was supposed to meet me there weren't there,' he said after arriving back in Australia.

'We walked in and there was one bloke with I would say a home-made pistol and another with a machete.'

Mr Gregor was given a 'good belting with a machete' and said with 'another couple of days and I wouldn't have returned'.

The gang demanded a £43,000 ransom but the Australian police tricked the captors by telling them their captive needed to collect the ransom from the Canadian Embassy.

He was released briefly and the authorities were able to rescue him.

'I especially thank the Australian Federal Police for the effort they put in and also the Mali police,' Mr Gregor added.

His brother Phil said Mr Gregor had been 'absolutely blinded' by love.

'You see this in a movie, you read about it in a book. I happenes to someone else, not you. But it does,' he said. 'I really hope the message gets out to people that they look after their family and if anyone talks about internet relationships, that they can be open and share the mail with them to get an objective opinion.'