Amanda Knox wins Meredith Kercher murder appeal

Amanda Knox, 24, was convicted in 2009 for the murder of her flatmate Meredith Kercher and sentenced to 26 years in prison.

Knox and her ex-boyfriend Mr Sollecito, 27, had spent nearly four years in jail since they were convicted of killing of the 21-year-old, from Coulsdon, south London, in 2007.

There were protests outside the court.

Knox appealed against her conviction to a courtroom in Perugia. Insisting she had not committed the murder of her friend during a drug-fuelled sex game, Knox pleaded to be released from prison because she was “paying with her life” for something she did not do.

“I did not kill, I did not rape, I did not steal. I was not there,” said Knox.

Knox tearfully pleaded in fluent Italian for her innocence after preparing the speech for three months according to her father. Ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 27, had been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder and denied having ever accused Knox of the murder.

The prosecution team have called for the sentences to be increased to life terms presenting circumstantial evidence which has been heavily challenged by Knox and Sollecito’s defense team.

The pair’s verdict will be given later today and have since been sent back to prison while the jury come to their conclusions.  Prosecutors say they will appeal if the verdict is overturned.