Tycoon heir recalls being kidnapped and having ear CUT OFF by mafia in harrowing account

The full story of his kidnapping that shook America in 1973 is told by British director Sir Ridley Scott in his acclaimed new movie All The Money In The World that opened in Britain yesterday.

However, John Paul’s story in his own words will also be revealed in a book Kidnapped – set to be released on January 9 – after the oil tycoon’s heir told author Charles Fox of his horrific experiences before his death in 2011.

Initially Mr Getty’s tightfisted grandfather refused to pay a huge ransom until the richest man in the world was sent his son’s severed ear.

Speaking of the moments after he had his ear cut off, John Paul Getty III said: “So much blood and gooeyness, it was in my hair, all over my body, down my back.

“If I touched my ear the bleeding started again. The bandage, my body, the bed, everything was completely red. There were rats eating the blood and on my bandages.

“The bleeding stopped after about a day and a half when they gave me a coagulant shot. By the third day, I was sure I was going to die. However, on that day I started to eat.

“For what seemed like an age, nothing happened (the letter containing the ear and a threat that other body parts would follow took 28 days to arrive because of an Italian postal strike).

“Finally, on December 10, they came and said, ‘We spoke to them. We’ve come to an agreement’.

“My family had agreed to pay 1.6 billion lire in small, used notes.”

Ridley Scott’s film shows how the senior Getty repeatedly refused to pay the kidnappers and, even after his grandson had been tortured, the oil tycoon still would not pay the £12.5million ($17million) ransom.

“I have 14 grandchildren,” the notoriously penny-pinching billionaire told the press.

He added: “And if I pay a penny of ransom I’ll have 14 kidnapped grandchildren.”

But the senior Getty’s refusal to pay for his grandson’s release went far deeper than that, according to some.

He suspected that the kidnapping had been faked by his grandson in a bid to extort his fortune – a suspicious later disproved when nine suspects were apprehended.

Two of the nine were convicted and sent to prison, while the others – including ‘Ndrangheta mafia bosses – were acquitted for lack of evidence.