Foxy Knoxy 'won't ever go back': Judges order a retrial for the murder of British student but can't force her to attend

Meredith, 21, was found dead in the house she and Knox shared in Perugia



Knox and Raffaele Sollecito spent four years in jail for murder



Returned to U.S. after she and Sollecito were cleared in October 2011

Re-trial is likely to take place in absentia - the U.S. is unlikely to extradite her

Rudy Guede was convicted of murder and is serving a 16-year sentence

Amanda Knox is unlikely ever to return to Italy, despite the country’s highest court ordering her to face a retrial for the murder of Meredith Kercher.

Yesterday’s ruling by the supreme court in Rome means the case will be tried again next year.

Judges accepted that there were ‘contradictions’ in the case, quashing the acquittal of 25-year-old Knox and her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, 29.

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Retrial: Amanda Knox holds hands with her boyfriend James Terrano in downtown Seattle on Sunday

Questions: Meredith Kercher's sister Stephanie Kercher, 29, left, said at her family's home in Coulsdon, Surrey, said: 'There are a lot of unanswered questions still'. Right, her sister before her 2007 death



In a dramatic turnaround, the pair, who both spent four years behind bars before they were cleared, were told they must stand trial again for the murder of the 21-year-old British student.

Knox, who has rebuilt her life in her home town of Seattle, Washington, cannot be compelled by Italian law to appear at the retrial and might not face extradition for years, if at all.

Her lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said: ‘Amanda does not intend to come back for the retrial. Her home is in Seattle and she doesn’t need to be here.’

He added that the decision to order a new trial was shocking. ‘She thought that the nightmare was over,’ he said on the steps of the courthouse. ‘But she’s ready to fight.’

Within minutes of the ruling, Knox issued a statement condemning it. The girl known worldwide by her self-awarded nickname Foxy Knoxy said: ‘It was painful to receive the news that the Italian supreme court decided to send my case back for revision when the prosecution’s theory of my involvement in Meredith’s murder has been repeatedly revealed to be completely unfounded and unfair.

Meredith's sister Stephanie and mother Arline welcomed the news about the retrial on Tuesday

Jailed: Knox, 25, and Sollecito, 29, spent four years in jail, but were freed on appeal in 2011 largely on the grounds DNA evidence was flawed

‘I believe that any questions as to my innocence must be examined by an objective investigation and a capable prosecution.

‘The prosecution responsible for the many discrepancies in their work must be made to answer for them, for Raffaele’s sake, my sake, and most especially for the sake of Meredith’s family.’

Knox and Sollecito spoke on the phone soon after yesterday’s verdict. Sollecito’s current girlfriend Annie Achille said: ‘They will see what can be done.’ She added that her boyfriend, who turned 29 yesterday, is ‘destroyed’ and not talking to anyone.

Meredith Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was in Italy as an exchange student from Leeds University. She was found dead in 2007, in the cottage she shared with Knox in the picturesque hilltop town of Perugia.

Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body had been covered with a duvet. After a lengthy trial in Perugia, Knox and Sollecito were convicted of the murder in December 2009 and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively,

But two years later the pair were freed after an appeal court found that the case had been botched and DNA evidence contaminated.

A third suspect, Rudy Guede, whose DNA and bloody footprints were found all over the crime scene, is serving a 16-year prison sentence, reduced from 30 years on appeal.

Meredith’s family welcomed yesterday’s judgment. Her sister Stephanie said: ‘We are never going to be happy about any outcome because we have still lost Meredith but we obviously support the decision and hope to get answers from it. There are still so many unanswered questions. All we have ever wanted to do is do what we can for Meredith and to find out the truth of what happened that night.’

Knox had rejoiced after her conviction was sensationally overturned in 2011. She fled Italy within hours, returning home to the US, where she quickly embraced life as a free woman. She now shares a flat with boyfriend James Terrano, a classical guitarist, and is studying at the University of Washington in Seattle, where she can be near her parents and three sisters.

The former student is preparing for the publication next month of a memoir for which she has been paid a reported £2.5million.



Media frenzy: Francesco Maresca, lawyer of Meredith Kercher's relatives, centere, is surrounded by journalists as he leaves Italy's Court of Cassation today

Press: Luciano Ghirga left, lawyer of Amanda Knox, centre, talks to journalists as he leaves Italy's Court of Cassation and right Giulia Bongiorno, lawyer of Amanda Knox's ex-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito



Sollecito remained in Italy and is studying robotic surgery at the University of Verona. He has already released a book about his experience. In it he said that he and Knox were still in touch – he visited her earlier this year and they speak on Skype regularly.

Sollecito’s lawyer Giulia Bongiorno said: ‘We are still strong. This is not a sentence in itself: this is just an annulment.’

Knox’s appeal against her conviction for slander – for having falsely accused her boss Patrick Lumumba of the murder – was rejected. She has already served the three-year prison sentence for that conviction, but was ordered to pay Lumumba €4,000 in costs.

The retrial will be held in Florence, with different judges, to avoid accusations of prejudice against the accused pair.

VIDEO: 'A shocking decision' Amanda Knox's attorney speaks after acquittal



Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were seen kissing in the wake of the murder

VIDEO: Raffaele Sollecito's Defence Lawyer reacts



PROFILES: Rudy Guede who was sentenced to 16 years in prison and Patrick Lumumba who Knox accused of killing Miss Kercher