Profile: Meredith Kercher

British student Meredith Kercher was found half naked with her throat cut in her flat in Italy last November.

The 21-year-old, from Coulsdon, south London, had just started a one-year course under the Erasmus programme of international exchanges to study modern history, political theories and the history of cinema.

Before leaving for Italy at the end of August 2007, she had been reading European studies at the University of Leeds.

Barely two months after arriving, her dead body was found under a duvet in the flat she rented with one of the suspects, Amanda Knox, in the via della Pergolain the central city of Perugia.

Italian police have said a possible motive for her murder was that she refused to take part in an extreme sex game.

A pathologist's report said her death was slow and painful because despite the fact that her throat was cut, the blow did not sever her carotid artery.

'Beautiful, intelligent, witty'

Miss Kercher's family said she was a hard worker, but also enjoyed socialising with her friends and family.

In a statement after her death, they said: "As anyone who had been lucky enough to have known her would testify, she was one of the most beautiful, intelligent, witty and caring people you could wish to meet."

Speaking of her trip to Italy, Miss Kercher's parents Arline and John said she was "excited at the prospect of spending the year studying there to improve her language skills, make new friends and immerse herself in the culture".

Her parents have three other children, Meredith's sister Stephanie and brothers John and Lyle.

Before going to university, Miss Kercher - known among friends and family as "Mez"- attended the £10,000-a-year private Old Palace School in Croydon, south London.

Her brutal and mysterious death has fed intense media speculation in both Europe and America.

One man, Rudy Hermann Guede, 21, who has joint Italian and Ivory Coast nationality, has now been convicted of her murder and sentenced to 30 years in prison.

American Miss Knox, 21, and a third suspect, Miss Knox's Italian ex-lover Raffaele Sollecito, 24, will now stand trial for the killing.