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

Derick Smith, 50, is said to have held the dog to ransom, demanding the owner hand over the vase, believed to have belonged to Nazi chief Hermann Goering, in exchange for the pet's safe return.

The dog disappeared from a house in Seaburn, Sunderland, while its owner was confined to a hospital bed.

The chalice was discovered by a British soldier 40 years ago in a loft where it had been hidden.

Smith, of Tuscan Road, Sunderland, entered a not guilty plea yesterday and will go on trial in December