Meredith Kercher prosecutors seek life for Knox

Amanda Knox addressed the court in Italian to deny any wrongdoing

Prosecutors have asked for life imprisonment for the pair accused of murdering British student Meredith Kercher in Italy.

Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found dead in her bedroom two years ago. Her throat had been cut.

Prosecutor Giuliano Mignini asked a jury in Perugia to convict Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito on charges of murder and sexual violence.

Miss Knox, a US student, and her former Italian boyfriend deny the charges.

The prosecutor argued that Miss Knox, Mr Sollecito and a third man, Rudy Guede, who was convicted in a separate trial killed the British student during a drug-induced sex game.

Guede, 22, was jailed for 30 years for murdering the British student.

Guede, who is originally from Ivory Coast, always denied any wrongdoing and has launched an appeal against his conviction.

Miss Knox, addressed the court in Italian, saying that the accusations against her were "pure fantasy".

"Meredith was my friend, I didn't hate her," she said.

Prosecutors told the court Miss Knox hit the British student's head against a wall, then tried to strangle her, as Mr Sollecito held her and Guede sexually assaulted her.

Mr Mignini said Miss Knox "harboured hatred" for the Briton and was the driving force behind a drug-fuelled sexual assault against her that became "an unstoppable crescendo of violence".

Meredith Kercher was on a student exchange programme in Italy

In his reconstruction, the prosecutor alleged that Guede held Miss Kercher down while Mr Sollecito and Miss Knox inflicted fatal wounds to her neck.

"The murder and the sexual violence were carried out for futile reasons. Meredith will never come back," he said.

Police found the Briton's semi-nude body in a pool of blood with her throat cut.

Miss Knox shared a flat in Perugia, central Italy, with Miss Kercher, a Leeds University student who was on an exchange programme.

Mr Sollecito, a 25-year-old Italian, is Miss Knox's former boyfriend.

The American student and her ex-boyfriend both deny allegations of a drug-fuelled sex game.

Miss Knox, who is from Seattle, says she spent the night of the murder at Mr Sollecito's house elsewhere in the Umbrian town.

Mr Sollecito says he was at home working on his computer that night and does not remember whether Miss Knox spent the whole night with him or just part of it.

A verdict is expected in the first week of December.