
Amanda Knox broke down in tears as she appeared at a criminal justice festival in Italy this morning.

The US citizen, 31, has returned to Italy for the first time this week since she was cleared of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher at their rented house in Perugia in 2007.

Despite being cleared of Meredith's murder by an Italian supreme court back in 2015, Ms Knox told a conference in Modena on Saturday she 'still fears more charges'.

'I'm afraid today, now, I'm afraid of being harassed, mocked, stuck and I'm afraid that new accusations will be addressed to me just because I come here to say my version of the facts. But above all, I fear I will lack the courage,' she told the crowd.

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Amanda Knox (left) is held by her mother, Edda Mellas, as they listen to a speaker at the conference of the Criminal Justice Festival at the University of Modena in Italy - her first return to the country since she was cleared of murdering Meredith Kercher at their rented house in Perugia in 2007

Ms Knox and her mother wipe away tears as they attend the conference in Modena, despite being cleared of murder by the Italian supreme court in 2015, Ms Knox told the conference she 'still fears more charges'

Tears spill from Ms Knox's eyes as she delivers her speech at the conference in Modena, northern Italy on Saturday - she told the audience, 'I'm afraid today, now, I'm afraid of being harassed, mocked, stuck and I'm afraid that new accusations will be addressed to me just because I come here to say my version of the facts. But above all, I fear I will lack the courage.'

Amanda Knox breaks down in tears as she speaks at a Criminal Justice Festival at the University of Modena, Italy on Saturday

Ms Knox controversially flew into Italy this week to speak at a criminal justice forum in Modena. Her appearance was slammed by murder victim Meredith Kercher's family

'I know that despite my acquittal issued by the Court of Cassation, I remain a controversial figure in the presence of public opinion, above all and especially here in Italy'.

'A lot of people think I'm crazy to come here. I was told that I was not safe, that I will be attacked in the streets, that I will be falsely accused and sent back to prison and that even if I return to Seattle, it will have been all in vain, it will not have been useful to anything'.

Ms Knox, who fought a bitter legal battle against the Italian justice system, broke down in tears as she said: 'It is not enough to get it right eventually. We need to get it right sooner, to do more often than we do.'

She also revealed she had even contemplated suicide after being accused of murder.

"At 20-years-old I was a happy and a lively girl and I was forced to spend my 20th year imprisoned in an inhumane, unhealthy and unpredictable environment,' she said.

"Instead of dreaming about a career or a family, I contemplated suicide."

'On the world stage I wasn't a defendant innocent until proved guilty, the verdict fell upon me like a crushing weight.'

Ms Knox spent four years in an Italian prison over the killing. She was later cleared along with her Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito.

Since her release, Ms Knox has written a book about her experience - 'Waiting To Be Heard: A Memoir' - been the subject of a Netflix documentary, and become a public advocate for inmates who have been wrongfully imprisoned.

Ms Knox, a former American exchange student who became the focus of a sensational murder case, arrived in Italy Thursday for the first time since an appeals court acquitted her in 2011

Despite her acquittal by an Italian court in 2015 Ms Knox told a crowd on Saturday morning she still fears charges

Ms Knox wipes a tear away as she addresses journalists and members of the public during Saturday's conference at the University of Modena

Amanda Knox on Thursday arrived in Italy for the first time since she was released from prison in the country in 2011

Ms Knox was barely able to get through parts of her speech on Saturday as she struggled to hold back the tears while addressing the crowd

Ms Knox (left) was convicted of murdering her roommate, British exchange student Meredith Kercher (right), in their Perugia apartment in 2007. She was later cleared of the killing

Before her trip to Italy he family of Miss Kercher labelled her return to the country 'inappropriate' and said her reappearance in the public eye was 'very painful for the family'.

In an essay published online on Wednesday, Ms Knox said she was 'polishing up the speech I'm about to give to a potentially hostile audience in Italy'.

The Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca told the Guardian: 'All these insistences and appearances are only ever done to keep the attention on herself.

'The murder is a tragic memory for the Kercher family, they lost their daughter and sister in such a terrible way. It's also an injustice for them as they still don't know the full truth.

Discussing Ms Knox's speech at the event, he added: 'It's unjustified because her process was not a classic case of ''judicial error''. There was a swing in the decisions: some judges decided one way, and others in another way.'

Ms Knox was pictured looking downcast as she was swarmed by gathered global media as she touched down in Milan on Thursday

Shying away from cameras as she touched down in Milan, the writer and campaigner kept her head bowed as she left the airport

Ms Knox's fiancé Robinson, who proposed to her with an elaborate sci-fi-themed display last November, sported multicoloured trousers and a trilby hat at the airport

Novelist Christopher Robinson, 36, who is engaged to Ms Knox (back right) held his arm out to passing cameras as the couple touched down in the airport

Wearing her auburn hair pinned back, the justice campaigner appeared sombre as she was flanked by expectant travellers at the airport. Ms Knox, who has pursued a career in broadcasting and campaigning since leaving prison in 2011, wore dark grey trousers with a check pattern and a black T-shirt

Ms Knox appeared sombre and with her head bowed when she landed. But appeared more relaxed at the cocktail event in Modena, Italy

Ms Knox laughing at a cocktail event on the eve of the opening of the Criminal Justice festival, in Modena, Italy. It is in contrast to when Ms Knox landed in Milan, where she kept her head bowed

The Kercher family lawyer Francesco Maresca told the Guardian: 'All these insistences and appearances are only ever done to keep the attention on herself.

'The murder is a tragic memory for the Kercher family, they lost their daughter and sister in such a terrible way. It's also an injustice for them as they still don't know the full truth.

Discussing Ms Knox's speech at the event, he added: 'It's unjustified because her process was not a classic case of 'judicial error'. There was a swing in the decisions: some judges decided one way, and others in another way.'

Kercher's half-naked body was found on November 2, 2007, in a back room of the apartment she and Ms Knox shared in Perugia.

The 21-year-old had been stabbed 47 times and had her throat slashed. Police also found signs of sexual assault.

Rudy Guede, an Ivory Coast-born drifter and small-time drug dealer, was eventually convicted of the murder and is serving a 16-year sentence in an Italian prison.

Ms Knox, flanked by her boyfriend Christopher Robinson, is moved and dries her eyes while listening to the the speech of Angelo Massaro, a man victim of a judicial error, during the conference of the Criminal Justice Festival on Friday

Ms Knox previously said she was 'polishing up the speech I'm about to give to a potentially hostile audience in Italy'