Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were acquitted on appeal in 2011 (AP)

Amanda Knox said to be anxious as an Italian court hears arguments from prosecutors appealing over her acquittal of the murder of her British roommate.

Lawyer Luciano Ghirga said he spoke to the 25-year-old by phone.

The Court of Cassation is considering prosecutors' contentions that the 2011 acquittals of American Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend over the murder of British student Meredith Kercher should be thrown out and a new trial ordered.

Prosecutors in Italy can appeal over acquittals. In the first trial, Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of the 2007 murder in the university town of Perugia and given long prison sentences. They were acquitted on appeal and Knox returned to the US

Defence lawyers argue that the 2011 acquittals were justified.

The court could rule later today.

If the court does order a retrial Knox would not have to return to Italy as there is no requirement for defendants to be in court.

Knox and Sollecito have both maintained their innocence, though they said that smoking marijuana the night Ms Kercher was killed had clouded their recollections.

Prosecutors have alleged that Kercher was the victim of a drug-fuelled sexual assault.

A young drifter from Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, was convicted of the slaying in separate proceedings and is serving a 16-year sentence. Ms Kercher's family have resisted theories that Guede acted alone.

The lawyer for the Kercher family, Francesco Maresca, was at the court , as was Sollecito's father.

The court is also hearing Knox's appeal against a slander conviction for having accused a local pub owner of carrying out the killing. The man was held for two weeks based on her allegations, but was then released for lack of evidence.

Belfast Telegraph