Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito, two of the suspects in the murder of Meredith Kercher, were sent back to prison in Perugia this evening after having their appeal to be released turned down.

Ms Knox, 20, and Mr Sollecito, 23, her Italian boyfriend, were appealing to an Italian judge to be released from jail while police continue their investigation into the murder. The pair had earlier told the court reviewing their detentions that they had played no part in killing the British student.

Amid dramatic scenes in court, Ms Knox broke down in tears as she insisted that she was not at the Perugia cottage when Ms Kercher, 21, had her throat cut.

Speaking in English she told Massimo Ricciarelli, the judge: “I am innocent, I was at Raffaele’s house the whole time.” She added: “I want to tell the truth.”

New witness 'saw Meredith suspects together'

Amanda Knox, Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Guede were see at the house in Perugia where the American student died

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• Murder in Perugia

BACKGROUND

• Meredith Kercher: Q&A

• New DNA not from Meredith suspects

• Timings crucial to Kercher murder investigation

Related Links

• American Meredith suspect describes prison life

• Meredith Kercher's housemate left blood at scene

• Meredith suspect went dancing

Multimedia

• Murder in Perugia

Ms Knox, from the University of Washington, and Mr Sollecito have not seen each other since they were arrested shortly after Ms Kercher was found murdered and semi-naked at the beginning of November. They appeared in the same Perugia courthouse today but did not meet, lawyers said.

Luciano Ghirga, Ms Knox’s lawyer, said that she had been “a bit tense, but calm”. He said Ms Knox had not seen Mr Sollecito at the court. The pair arrived separately for the hearing and were taken from police vans straight into the courthouse.

Ms Knox also told the judge she was sorry for the trouble she had caused Diya “Patrick” Lumumba, a Congolese bar owner for whom she worked part time, by falsely claiming that he had had sex with Ms Kercher and murdered her in her bedroom, and that she had heard her flatmate’s screams from the kitchen.

The American stuident, who appeared in court wearing brown trousers and a sweatshirt, said: “I am sorry for Patrick and for the whole situation.”

Lawyers for the pair indicated that the defence strategy in both cases had been to challenge the forensic evidence gathered so far by police and to put the blame for the killing and sexual assault on Rudy Hermann Guede, the Ivory Coast immigrant with joint Italian nationality who is awaiting extradition from Germany.

Both Mr Raffaele and Ms Knox deny they were at the house when the murder took place, although their statements on their whereabouts in the evening and night of November 1-2 have been confused and contradictory. As far as is known neither has yet mentioned Mr Guede specifically as the killer.

Mr Guede has told German police and his lawyers that he was at the house and had sex with Ms Kercher, but maintains it was consensual and that the “real killer” was an Italian he did not know. His description of the man and his claim that Ms Kercher tried to name her killer by uttering the sound “af” with her dying breath appear aimed at pointing the finger at Mr Sollecito.

Mr Guede claims that while he was in the house he saw Ms Kercher discover that money was missing from her bedside table, and says she accused Ms Knox (who he did not say was present) of stealing the cash to pay for drugs.

Mr Ghirga argued in court that a statement Ms Knox made early in the inquiry admitting that she was at the house was made under duress, without a lawyer present. He also produced expert witnesses to try to prove that a kitchen knife with Ms Knox’s DNA on it was not the murder weapon, as police claim.

Giuliano Mignini, the chief prosecutor, said blood on a tap in the bathroom of the house was Ms Knox’s and proved she was there on the night of the murder.

Mr Sollecito’s lawyers, Marco Brusco and Luca Maori, also contested evidence against their client, saying the footprint found in Ms Kercher’s blood did not match his Nike trainers, as police allege. They produced computer experts in an attempt to disprove the police’s contention that Mr Sollecito’s computer was not connected to the internet at his flat on the night of the murder, as he maintains.

Italian newspapers reported that police had confiscated as evidence a lengthy memorandum written by Mr Sollecito in his cell in an attempt at “self justification”. It is not known what the memorandum contains. Mr Sollecito had asked to be questioned again by Mr Mignini before today’s hearing, but this request was refused.

The suspects can be held for up to a year before charges are brought. Mr Lumumba, 38, was released from jail last week, and is still under investigation. He said after his release that he had dismissed Ms Knox from her job as part-time assistant at his bar in Perugia, and that she had been jealous because he had offered the job ito Ms Kercher. He said Ms Knox wanted to be “queen bee” and was mentally unstable.

Mr Mignini told the judge that Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito must on no account be freed, since there was enough evidence to detain them and a risk that they would go on the run if released, even under house arrest.

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