Three Still Held Over Meredith Murder

Italian police are continuing to question three people in connection with the death of British student Meredith Kercher.

Amanda Knox, a 20-year-old American student who was also Meredith's room-mate, her 24-year-old Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and 37-year-old Congolese man Patrick Diya Lumumba were all arrested on Tuesday.

All three are being held on suspicion of conspiracy to commit manslaughter and conspiracy to commit sexual violence.

Meredith, 21, from Coulsdon in south London, was found in the bedroom of her apartment in Perugia on Friday. She was partially clothed and her throat had been cut.

Police believed that she was murdered as she tried to resist a violent sexual attack.

On Wednesday, Italian police were reported to have claimed that Miss Knox told them that she covered her ears to block out Meredith's screams.

In the alleged partial confession, Miss Knox is said to have told police that she was in the kitchen of the apartment she shared with Meredith while Mr Lumumba was in Meredith's room. It has been reported that she said that she covered her ears to block the sound of screaming and didn't remember anything after that, adding that she was "very confused".

On Tuesday, Arturo De Felice, Perugia's police chief, told a new conference that Meredith had died while fighting off a sexual attack. He said that she was a "victim and nothing more".

Medical examiner Luca Lalli said that there was evidence that sexual activity had taken place before Meredith died, but did not confirm suggestions that she had been raped. However, he did confirm that there were bruises and lesions on her body, which were consistent with involvement in a struggle.

Miss Kercher, a student from Leeds University who was in Italy as part of the Erasmus programme, is known to have attended at least one Halloween party last Wednesday night.

Police have been checking fingerprints found on two mobile phones belonging to Miss Kercher, one of which was found abandoned in the garden of an elderly woman, who handed it in to police.

Miss Kercher's father, John Kercher, told 'The Daily Telegraph' that he had found it "very difficult" to deal with the circumstances surrounding her death.

A candlelit vigil was held in Meredith's memory at Perugia's cathedral on Monday night.

(KMcA)