A BRITISH teacher, originally from Kent, has been arrested in Italy accused of torturing a love rival with a Taser gun.

Brian Avery, 47, allegedly assaulted 40-year-old Shao Ling after having an affair with the victim's wife, who was one of his students.

Avery, a former pupil of St John's School in Margate who used to live in Ramsgate and Ashford, had been working as a private English tutor in Camerlata, a suburb of Como in northern Italy, for the last three years.

He is alleged to have approached Mr Ling outside the couple's apartment at around 8.30pm on January 13 and forced him at gunpoint into an underground car park where, it is alleged, he tied Mr Ling to a chair, pistol-whipped him and used the stun gun on him.

Mr Ling was reported to have raised the alarm when a car drove in and Avery ran off.

A police spokesman said that Mr Ling, who told them Avery had been having a relationship with his wife, suffered serious injuries and has been detained in hospital.

Avery was arrested at his house in Camerlata. He has denied charges of kidnapping, assault and illegal possession of a firearm, but has been remanded in custody. The British vice-consul in Milan has visited him.

Avery previously lived in Rotterdam, Holland, and the Canary Islands, and various parts of the UK before moving to Italy.

His father, 68-year-old carpenter Brian from Margate, said he had not spoken to his son for years.