The student whose murder began a captivating saga

The mystery surrounding the murder of Meredith Kercher has captivated millions around the world since the British student was found dead in the Italian town of Perugia in 2007.

The 21-year-old from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found with her throat cut in her bedroom at her house, with her body partially clothed and under a duvet.

Four days later police arrested her American housemate, Amanda Knox, then 20, Knox's boyfriend, Italian student Raffaele Sollecito, 23, and Congolese bar worker Diya "Patrick" Lumumba, 38. Officers claimed Miss Kercher was murdered because she refused to take part in violent sex.

Knox is said to have broken down, confessed to the crime and implicated Lumumba, before the three were held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit manslaughter and sexual violence.

Later, Rudy Hermann Guede, 20, from the Ivory Coast, was named as a fourth suspect and arrested in Germany, but released without charge. But amid talk of a possible pact between the former lovers to frame him, he was extradited back to Italy and sentenced to 30 years for Meredith's murder after a fast-track trial in 2008.

Knox and Sollecito were ordered to stand trial for murder and sexual violence, and a judge ruled that they should remain in prison while they awaited trial. The pair were both found guilty of the murder in December 2009, with Knox sentenced to 26 years and Sollecito 25.

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