By Gina Gomez

Perugia, Dec.05, (THAINDIAN NEWS) In a much anticipated trail, American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito have been found guilty of brutally killing her former housemate Meredith Kercher, two years ago. The trial, which has received widespread media attention, handed out the verdict on Friday in which 22 year old Amanda Knox has been sentenced to 26 years in prison and her accomplice in the heinous crime- Sollecito has been given a jail term of 25 years.

Both the convict have been held in prison for the last two years since they were arrested for the murder. The day before the trail, an appeal was also made to the judges by both Knox and her former boyfriend to consider their case but the appeal did not seem to have influenced the verdict in any manner.

The young couple have been convicted in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, who was found murdered on November 2, 2007, with her throat slit- in the flat that she shared with Amanda Knox and few other students in Perugia. Investigations revealed later that 21 year old Kercher was sexually assaulted and her throat was slashed with a kitchen knife by her housemate Knox and her then Italian boyfriend, Sollecito.

As the verdicts were given out, Knox looked immensely disturbed and sobbed as she left the courtroom under police custody. At the same time, Sollecito seemed more composed but his face became pale as he realized that he would have to spend the coming 25 years of his life and his youth in prison. However, it is expected that both the convicts are going to appeal against the verdict.