He has written 'Tricked! The Story of an Internet Scam' about horrific ordeal

Sacked academic wants job so he can return to the classroom

Model had no idea she was being used as honeytrap in trafficking scam

Humbled: Professor Paul Frampton said his time in the notorious prison left him wiser, more empathetic and less arrogant

An eminent British scientist told today how he witnessed a brutal murder while serving time for drug smuggling in a 'hellhole' South American prison.

Oxford-educated professor Paul Frampton, 71, was jailed for trafficking cocaine after falling victim to an Internet scam involving a bikini model.

The renowned physicist believed he was taking a suitcase to a voluptuous 32-year-old brunette he had fallen for online.

But police found two kilos of cocaine in a secret compartment in the bag when professor Frampton was stopped as he boarded a plane in Argentina.

The respected academic spent nine months inside the notorious Villa Devoto jail in Buenos Aires, locked up 24 hours a day with violent criminals.

In his first interview since serving his sentence, professor Frampton told how he watched in horror as a fellow inmate was stabbed to death by a Colombian hitman.

Speaking at his new home in Oxford, he told Mail Online: 'The prison was a squalid place and we were treated like animals in a zoo.

'There were thousands of cockroaches crawling all over the floors and walls.

'We used a hole in the floor for a toilet and had just two showers between the 80 men on my wing.

'I can honestly say it nearly killed me. I believe I would have died if they had not let me out when they did.

'There was a lot of violence. I saw a man murdered just a few feet away from me.

'I was chatting to a young Colombian inmate who had just arrived. The rumour was he had murdered a policeman.

Married model Denise Milani, had no idea her identity was being used, was shocked at the sting

Alluring: Former Miss Bikini World Denise Milani was used to lure Professor Frampton into carrying two kilos of cocaine that were hidden in a bag

Innocent: Denise Milani was blissfully unaware she was being used by South American mafia as bait to lure Professor Frampton to carry a bag full of drugs

'He was a bit wild-eyed but we were getting on fine, then suddenly out of nowhere he had a knife in his hand, pulled from his shirtsleeve.

'It was about six inches long and very sharp. He leapt up and attacked another Colombian. He murdered him right in front of me.

'He went straight for the neck, for the carotid artery and almost decapitated him.

'There was blood everywhere, the man collapsed and died instantly on the spot. I was in shock. The murderer was restrained and I never saw him again.

'The rumour was he was a professional assassin working for the Medellin cocaine cartel. There was always the threat of violence in the prison but that was the only murder I saw.

Notorious: Prisoners protest over conditions at Villa Devoto jail in Buenos Aires. Professor Paul Frampton said the nine months there 'nearly killed' him

Hidden: The packets containing two kilos of cocaine were hidden inside a bag Professor Frampton was tricked into carrying by South American drug traffickers

'I had nightmares about it.'

The scientist continued: 'I was nicknamed Prof by the other inmates.

'Drugs were rife in the prison and I was surrounded by inmates taking crack and cocaine every day. The guards were corrupt and brought it in.

'The inmates frequently offered me drugs but I wasn't interested.

'I was lucky because a major smuggler called Vito took me under his wing and looked after me, so for the most part people left me alone.

'He was a bit wild-eyed but we were getting on fine, then suddenly out of nowhere he had a knife in his hand, pulled from his shirtsleeve. Professor Paul Frampton

'But the conditions were terrible and I lost around 25lbs as the food was mostly stale bread.'

Mr Frampton, originally from Kidderminster, Worcs, was on a wing of 80 foreign drug smugglers, all sharing one large cell with 40 bunk bolted to the concrete floor.

The prison, built for 800 prisoners but holding twice as many, is renowned as one of the toughest in South America, and was the scene of a riot in which 62 inmates were killed in 1978.

Mr Frampton arrived in handcuffs in January 2012 after being stopped with two kilos of cocaine at Ezeiza International Aiport in Buenos Aires.

His bizarre story began two months earlier when he struck up an online romance after joining a dating website, while working at the University of North Carolina in the US.

He admits he was lonely and looking for love after splitting from his wife Anne-Marie seven years previously.

Professor Frampton, who has written hundreds of academic papers including some co-authored with Nobel prize winners, has now written a book about his ordeal called 'Tricked! The Story of an Internet Scam'.

Mug: Lovelorn Professor Frampton thought he was chatting to a bikini model online. It was in fact members of the South American mafia who tricked him into carrying two kilos of cocaine

Brutal: Renowned physicist Professor Frampton saw another inmate brutally murdered by a hitman during his time at Villa Devoto jail in Buenos Aires

The professor believed he was romancing a bikini model called Denise Milani, winner of Miss Bikini World in 2007.

He began exchanging hundreds of messages with his online 'girlfriend' before he agreed to fly to Bolivia to meet her in person.

In fact, unbeknown to him, he was communicating with drug traffickers from the South American mafia, who were posing as Ms Milani.

The model had no idea her identity had been taken over and played no part in the sting.

Mr Frampton admits he was 'incredibly naïve' for falling for the scam, which he says was 'incredibly convincing and professional.'

He said: 'I was very attracted to Denise. She's obviously a very attractive woman physically, but it also seemed that she was also very interesting to chat to and was very interested in my work.

'She told me she was bored of younger men chasing her for her looks and wanted to be with someone more mature.

'I was foolish enough to believe what I read. I wouldn't say I was in love as we never met in person or even spoke on the phone.

'But I believed we had a genuine relationship.'

Honeytrap: Bikini model Denise Milani had no idea she was being used to lure Professor Frampton into a trap

Lonely: Professor Frampton was looking for love after splitting from his wife when he started what he thought was an online relationship with bikini model Denise Milani

When the professor arrived in La Paz in Bolivia he received a message from 'Denise' saying she had flown to Brussels for a photoshoot.

She asked him to pick up a suitcase she had forgotten and bring it with him to Belgium.

He picked the case up from a man who came to his hotel, but later decided to return to the US via Argentina as he was frustrated at not having met Denise.

He was checked in to a flight to Miami via Lima, Peru, when he was stopped by armed police at the Buenos Aires airport.

He said: 'They cut open the suitcase and found packets of cocaine weighing 2 kilos.

It was surreal and confusing. It never entered my head the suitcase would contain anything illegal.

'It was surreal and confusing. It never entered my head the suitcase would contain anything illegal.'

Professor Frampton was jailed for four years and eight months, reduced to four years on appeal.

He was so convinced of the scam that even after his arrest he believed he had been communicating with 'Denise'.

He said: 'The other prisoners laughed at me. They couldn't believe how naïve I was.

'But I had spent my life sheltered in an ivory tower and had no idea there were professional scammers who would operate like that.'

Professor Frampton lost his job at the University of North Carolina and is looking for a new position.

He spent nine months in prison before being released to serve the remainder of his sentence under house arrest at a friend's house in Buenos Aires, because of severe health problems he was suffering in jail.

He was freed from house arrest last June, and moved to the UK last month, where he continues to research particle phenomenology and theoretical cosmology.

Moving on: Professor Paul Frampton, 71, at his new home in Oxford. The honeytrap victim is seeking a way back into academia following his time in an Argentinian jail

He currently holds no position and says he would welcome a new academic post.

He said: 'Prison has definitely made me wiser, more empathetic, less arrogant, more sympathetic.

'I met some very good people and also some very cruel and despicable people. I am much less naïve now. And I won't be trying Internet dating ever again.'