Meredith suspects remain in jail

The three being held deny involvement in Miss Kercher's death

Three suspects held in Italy over the murder of a British student have lost their last appeals to be freed.

In Italy's top court, appeals by lawyers for American Amanda Knox, Italian Raffaele Sollecito and Rudy Hermann Guede, of Ivory Coast, failed.

The three have been held since November on suspicion of sexually assaulting and murdering Meredith Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, in Perugia.

All deny involvement in the student's death and have not been charged.

They are being held at Capanne Prison, near Perugia, and can be detained for up to a year before trial.

After lawyers for the trio appeared before judges in a closed hearing at the Corte Suprema di Cassazione in Rome, Mr Sollecito's solicitor Marco Brusco confirmed that the three would remain in prison.

Extradited

Miss Kercher had been on an exchange year from Leeds University. She was found dead under a duvet in her bedroom on 2 November, with her throat cut. Police said there was evidence of a violent sexual encounter.

Officers have said they have forensic evidence linking all three suspects to the murder.

At the end of November, lawyers for Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito had appealed against their continued detention, but the court ruled they had to stay in prison.

Mr Guede, 20, was arrested in Germany on 20 November and extradited to Italy in December. Shortly afterwards a court in Perugia ordered that he also remain in prison.