A SUSPECT at the heart of an alleged blackmail plot involving a Nazi treasure and a missing dog will appear in court tomorrow.

Derek Clifford Smith, 50, is accused of holding a dog to ransom in exchange for a chalice that's thought to have belonged to the Nazi chief Hermann Goerring.

Police say Smith grabbed a boxer dog belonging to the chalice owner in the hope of ransoming it for the £2m-valued relic.

The chalice had been discovered in the loft of a house in Sunderland where it is said to have laid after being smuggled out of Germany by an enterprising squaddie at the end of the Second World War.

It is thought the antique was given to the present owner, who lives in Seaburn, Sunderland, as payment for a large debt.

Smith, of Tuscan Road, Thorley Close, Sunderland, appeared before magistrates on Sunday accused of blackmail. He was granted conditional bail to reappear tomorrow.