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Saturday 24 September 2011

Amanda Knox appeal: Prosecutors call for life sentences - BBC News

Prosecutors have called for an appeals court to extend the sentences given to two convicted murderers of British student Meredith Kercher to life terms.

American Amanda Knox and Italian Raffaele Sollecito were found guilty in 2009 of murder in Italy and jailed for 26 years and 25 years respectively.

The pair, who deny any wrongdoing, are appealing against their convictions.

In summing up, prosecutors said evidence pointed to the pair's guilt and defended the original DNA evidence.
Independent experts had questioned the reliability of evidence - used in the original trial - from a knife and Miss Kercher's bra clasp.

Manuela Comodi, one of the prosecutors making closing statements, showed the jury how she believed the bra had been cut from Miss Kercher. She also showed jurors photographs from the scene.

The prosecution told the court the independent experts, appointed by a judge, did not have sufficient qualifications to be described as experts.

'Bungled sex game'
 
They also said the DNA was only one part of the original case against Knox and Sollecito.

There was also considerable circumstantial evidence which put the defendants in the flat on the night of Miss Kercher's death, they said.

Prosecutors told the court that their evidence showed the pair should not be acquitted but given life sentences - something which they had argued during the original trial.

The BBC's Daniel Sandford, who is in Perugia, said the prosecution's demand was something Knox and Sollecito's teams would have been expecting. 

Closing arguments from the Kercher family's lawyer and the defence are due to be heard next week.

Knox, 24, and her former boyfriend Sollecito, 26, were convicted of the 2007 murder of Miss Kercher in her bedroom after a bungled sex game. Miss Kercher's throat had been cut.

Year-long appeal
 
Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon, south London, had been sharing a flat with Knox in Perugia while on an exchange year abroad from the University of Leeds.

Knox and Sollecito have spent almost a year appealing against their convictions.

Earlier in the appeal, independent experts suggested that the original DNA evidence fell short of international standards, with police failing to wear the correct protective equipment and wrapping evidence in plastic bags instead of paper.

They also said the genetic profile on the knife's blade, which was attributed to Miss Kercher, could not be attributed with certainty.

The original testing did not follow recommendations of the international scientific community for dealing with DNA testing, they added.

The review did support original tests which found the genetic profile on the knife's plastic handle could be attributed to Knox, they said.

A third person, 21-year-old Rudy Guede, was also convicted of Miss Kercher's murder in a separate trial and is serving a 16-year term.



Tuition fees: Labour pledges maximum cap of £6,000 - BBC News

Ed Miliband says Labour would reduce the cap on student tuition fees. 

He told the Sunday Mirror that a Labour government would limit university fees to £6,000 a year - down from the current £9,000 maximum.

It would be partly funded by graduates earning over £65,000 a year paying higher interest on student loans and by axing the government's planned cut in corporation tax for financial services. 

Ministers have said the current system is "fairer and affordable".

The announcement comes on the eve of the Labour conference in Liverpool, with Mr Miliband set to speak on Tuesday. 

'Burdened by debt'
 
The move is part of Mr Miliband's bid to present his party as being on the side of hard-pressed families struggling to maintain their standard of living amidst the global economic downturn.

He told the Sunday Mirror: "Parents up and down the country are incredibly worried about their sons and daughters.

"We want to take action to make it easier for people to go to university and not feel burdened down by debt. If we were in government now, we would cut the maximum tuition fee from £9,000 to £6,000 a year."


The BBC's political correspondent Vicky Young said the announcement of this proposal had come as a "bit of a surprise".

She said policy reviews were being carried out across all areas for Labour so policy announcements were not expected until further into the next parliament. 

Our correspondent added that it was important for Labour that these sums added up as polls suggest people trust the Conservatives and the coalition government far more with the economy. 

She added: "It was incredibly difficult for the Liberal Democrats - they had a promise not to introduce tuition fees which they went back on. 

"Many people feel they have lost the student vote which gave them a number of seats at the general election so clearly that is what Ed Miliband is trying to do there. 

By saying how he'd pay for it, partly by not bringing in this cut in corporation tax for financial services, he can say he's making the wealthy pay more." 

Tuition fees were introduced by the last Labour government. 

The current £9,000 maximum was introduced by the coalition government. 


Mother and five children killed in Neasden house fire - BBC News

The fire started in the early hours of Saturday, spreading quickly through the family's home

A mother and five of her children have been killed in a house fire in north-west London.

Muna Elmufatish, 41, and her daughters Hanin Kua, 14, Basma, 13 and Amal, nine, died in the blaze with her sons Mustafa, five, and Yehya, aged two.

Her husband, Bassam Kua, 51, and another daughter Nur, 16, are in a critical condition following the fire in Neasden early on Saturday morning.

Police said they are not treating the deaths as suspicious.

Flames tore through the semi-detached house in Sonia Gardens as six fire engines and 30 firefighters tackled the blaze at about 01:00 BST.

'Like a bomb'
 
One neighbour said he heard a loud bang from the home of the family who are thought to be Palestinian, which sounded "like an explosion, almost like a bomb".

He added: "We all went outside and we saw firemen looking out the window and shouting, 'there's people in there'. It was horrific."

LFB station manager Glen Gorman, who was at the scene, said: "There's no doubt this is an absolute tragedy.

"My thoughts, and those of my colleagues at the London Fire Brigade, are with the friends, family and loved ones of those affected at this extremely sad and difficult time."

He added: "Crews worked extremely hard in some very, very, difficult conditions and were able to prevent fire spreading to adjoining properties and causing further injuries or even further tragedy."

Chief Supt Matthew Gardner said: "Our thoughts and sympathies go out to the friends and family of the victims, who are now having to come to terms with this terrible loss of life."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15045798