A man alleged to be at the centre of a bizarre plot involving a priceless Nazi chalice and a pet boxer dog has appeared in court to deny blackmail.

Derick Smith, 50, is said to have held the dog to ransom, demanding that the owner hand over the silver vase, believed to have belonged to evil Nazi chief Hermann Goerring, in exchange for the pets safe return.

The dog disappeared from a house in Seaburn, Sunderland, while its owner was confined to a hospital bed. The chalice had been discovered in a loft where it was hidden 40 years ago by a British soldier who smuggled it out of war torn Germany. Smith, of Tuscan Road, Sunderland, entered his not guilty plea yesterday and will be tried in December.