Amanda Knox Judge Describes Agony Of Decision

By Nick Pisa, for Sky News in Italy

The judge who upheld Amanda Knox's murder conviction has spoken of his pain at making the decision.

Judge Alessandro Nencini made his comments as fellow judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman, who cleared Knox and Raffaele Sollecito in 2011, criticised the verdict.

Judge Nencini and his panel of six jurors took almost 12 hours to make their decision.

It saw them uphold the original murder convictions against Knox, 26, and Sollecito, 29.

Knox wiped away tears during a TV interview in the US

''I have two children and this was a painful sentence for me as well but I and all the jury have a clean conscience," he said.

''I feel liberated because the moment of decision is always agony.

"I have two children and to give two young people sentences of 25 and 28 years is emotionally very strong.''

Judge Nencini added that the decision reached was ''shared'' by all the jury and that they all knew the ''severity'' of the Florence appeal court ruling.

"This (case) involves young people and entire families. This is a story that has overturned many lives," he said.

Exchange student Miss Kercher lived with Knox

Meredith was found semi-naked and with her throat slashed, in the bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in Perugia seven years ago.

She was killed just weeks after arriving in Italy as part of her university degree course.

Knox and Sollecito were originally convicted of murdering and sexually assaulting the British student Meredith Kercher by a court in 2009.

But then two years later they were dramatically cleared by Judge Hellmann at appeal - and walked free.

Judge Claudio Pratillo Hellman delivers his verdict in 2011

Then in a further twist, that decision was overturned by Italy's Supreme Court and sent back to the appeal court .

Knox was sentenced to 28 years and Sollecito to 25 years on Thursday.

Speaking about the latest decision, Judge Hellmann said: "I remain certain that there is no concrete evidence at all against these two young people.

"This new sentence was on the cards - it's tied to the decision made by the Supreme Court - Amanda's not doing a bad thing by not coming back to Italy."

In its ruling last year the Supreme Court decided that "errors" had been made in the 2009 appeal court hearing and that these should be "remedied".

Members of Ms Kercher's family want Knox extradited

Key to the case is DNA evidence which in the appeal trial was exposed as being flawed. It emerged that forensic officers had not followed correct procedures at the crime scene when collecting evidence.

This was the key to Knox and Sollecito's release from jail.

The Florence appeal court once again heard that DNA evidence from a 30cm kitchen knife found at Sollecito's house and thought to be the murder weapon was also questionable.

Experts ruled that although Knox's DNA was on the handle and a small amount of Meredith's was on the tip, it was deemed too small to be significant.

But the court chose to overlook this.

Sollecito has been held by police near the Austrian border

Sollecito's lawyer said the case was a milestone as it was the first time that ''two people have been convicted of a crime when there is no evidence putting them at the scene".

The appeal court will release its reasons and motivations for the verdict sometime in April but judge Nencini stressed they were ''all convinced'' of their verdict.

The ruling now marks the start of a long legal battle as both Knox and Sollecito's defence teams have announced they will appeal the verdict to Italy's Supreme Court.

That hearing is unlikely to start until spring 2015.

Only at that point, and if the sentences are confirmed, will extraditing Knox from America back to Italy be discussed.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito kissing in the aftermath of the murder

The US will not reveal whether it has received a request to extradite Knox.

The State Department's deputy press secretary Marie Harf said: "We've been following it closely as it's gone through the Italian legal system.

"I don't have any more analysis of the Italian judicial procedure for you. But again, we'll just keep monitoring it and if we have anything else to say as we get further along in the process, we will.

"Extradition requests I understand, are legally private and confidential, so I don't think I have more comment than that. We do have an extradition treaty, which has been in force since 1984."

On Friday, Knox wept on television as she vowed to fight her latest conviction "to the very end".

For Sollecito, the outlook is arguably bleaker as he is already in Italy. He has had his passport confiscated and been banned from leaving the country.

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Flights Cancelled Amid 75mph Winds And Floods

Heavy rains, large waves and strong winds wreaked havoc in Britain and Ireland today, cancelling flights and sparking a "significant risk to life" warning.

The worst of the weather was battering the Republic of Ireland but gusts were expected to pick up across Wales and southern parts of England during the day.

Environment Secretary Owen Paterson is to chair a meeting of the Government's Cobra emergencies committee by conference call at 3pm.

The Environment Agency warned "extraordinary measures" may be taken in Gloucestershire today to keep back tidal and river floods.

Flooding in central Limerick, Ireland (pic: Sean Keogh/@Fame_For_Sale)

It issued severe flood warnings - meaning there is an imminent danger to life - for several parts of the county and the coasts of Cornwall and north Devon.

Further warnings are in place along the length of the River Severn amid fears it could burst its banks. It also warned the risk of flooding could continue into next week.

Keep Calm and Carry On! The Anchor Bleu in Bosham (pic Stephen Sumner)

Flood barriers have already been installed in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, and Bewdley, Worcestershire, as the water level rises.

A statement issued by the agency said: "Gales, large waves and high tides present a danger to life and are expected to result in overtopping of sea walls and defences causing flooding to properties along with disruption to travel.

"The risk of flooding will continue into next week, with the Met Office forecasting further heavy rainfall across southern England and Wales.

"This rain will fall in areas where ground water and river levels are already high, bringing an ongoing risk of flooding."

Residents in Limerick paddle down the road in a boat. Pic: Anne Sheridan

Lesser warnings remain in place for many parts of Britain, including the already blighted Somerset Levels and west Wales, where 49 flood warnings and 15 alerts have been issued this morning.

Tests for Sky News have found floodwater in Somerset, where the floods have persisted for weeks, contains 60 times the amount of safe bacteria for agricultural water.

In the Republic of Ireland, there were reports of severe flooding in Limerick City with the river Shannon bursting its banks.

With gusts of almost 80mph in coastal areas of the country, several parts were hit by flooding and at one stage 5,500 homes and properties were left without power, 4,000 of them in Ennis, Co Clare.

Flights out of Dublin airport were affected because of the gales force winds. Flights to Manchester, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Cardiff, Paris and Madrid had to be cancelled.

Isabel Webster, reporting from the River Parrett in Burrowbridge, Somerset, tweeted at 8.30am: "High tide in Burrowbridge this morning. It's just touching the sand bags."

River Parrett in Burrowbridge in the 1960s when it was regularly dredged In Spring 2013, without dregdging. Pic: Flooding on the Levels Action Group The same river today

Minutes later she tweeted: "Water is seeping through giant sandbags onto road beyond at high tide here in Burrowbridge."

Amid fears the bags would not hold back the water an emergency team from the Environment Agency, rushed to the scene to bolster the defences.

There are fears that flooding in the area will worsen as river levels rise over the coming hours and tomorrow.

Meanwhile, David Cameron has admitted a "long-term" action plan is needed to reduce the devastating impact of flooding on communities.

He insisted the Government was doing "everything we can to help people recover as quickly as possible".

England and Wales are covered by flood warnings and alerts

However, he admitted there was work to do, especially in Somerset, where some residents remain cut off after the wettest January on record.

In a letter to the Western Daily Press, Mr Cameron said: "Like everybody across the country I feel enormous sympathy for the people who live on the Somerset Levels and are suffering from the devastating impact of the flooding."

He added: "We need long-term action to reduce the risk of this happening again. That is why (Environment Secretary) Owen Paterson is working with the Environment Agency (EA) and local agencies in Somerset to deliver a robust plan for the next 20 years."

The Severn laps over a road in Arley, Worcestershire. Pic: Neill Woodward

The Prime Minister said plans to dredge rivers will begin "as soon it is safe to do so" and the EA will spend "the coming months improving river flows" across the south west, dredging and weed clearance.

Glastonbury founder Michael Eavis has claimed a lack of river dredging for the past 40 years has worsened the impact of the flooding in Somerset.

"The EA decided to abandon the dredging for the sake of the river bank and they sold the wonderful dredging machines for scrap," said the dairy farmer.

"Can you believe it? That was 40 years ago. This (flooding) is the result of that decision."

In the Republic of Ireland, Munster, Leinster, Connacht, Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan were told to prepare for possible flooding, while communities in west Wales and along the south coast from Dorset to Kent were also put on alert.

As heavy rain fell in the South, snow swept across parts of the North

Hundreds of university students in Aberystwyth were told to leave accommodation on the town's seafront amid fears high tides could hit the town for the second time in a month.

Meanwhile, at the Anchor Bleu pub in Bosham, West Sussex, defiant customers were pictured eating their lunches and supping their beers as water swashed about their feet. 

Wintry weather swept across northern areas on Friday, closing the Lake District's exposed Kirkstone Pass and causing hazardous driving conditions elsewhere.

The latest forecasts will be met with trepidation in flood-stricken communities in Somerset, where the military is on standby to help with the relief effort.

On Tuesday, Prince Charles will meet people who remain cut off by water after the wettest January on record.

Some residents have criticised the Government and the Environment Agency for what they say is a lack of action to prevent the floods.

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Baby Boy's Death: Mother Arrested In Oldham

By Becky Johnson, North of England Correspondent

Police are questioning a mother on suspicion of murdering her seven-week-old baby in Oldham.

The 23-year-old mother's partner, a man aged 35, and the couple's lodger, a 26-year-old man, have also been arrested on suspicion of murder.

The baby, named locally as Thomas Gacek, was taken to the Royal Oldham Hospital with serious head injuries last Saturday.

Hospital staff contacted police and the child's mother and her partner were originally arrested on suspicion of assault.

Following the baby's death and the results of a postmortem examination they were re-arrested on suspicion of murder.

The baby was taken to Royal Oldham Hospital

Along with their lodger they are also being questioned on suspicion of conspiring to pervert the course of justice.

All three remain in police custody.

Police say one line of inquiry they are examining is whether he was shaken to death.

Detectives are searching the house where the child lived in the Clarksfield area of Oldham.

The couple's next door neighbour, who did not want to be named, told Sky News she was "shocked" to hear the news.

She said she understood the couple had only moved into the house in November and said they had put up balloons and banners when the baby was born.

The infant died at Royal Manchester Children's Hospital

Inquiries are ongoing to trace the child's father.

Detective Inspector Andy Cunliffe from Greater Manchester Police (GMP) said: "This is a tragic case in which a very young baby has lost his life.

"We are determined to find out exactly what the circumstances were that led to him suffering such injuries.

"News of the death of such a little boy will no doubt come as a great shock to people.

"And I would like to try to reassure the community as much as I can that we have a team of detectives dedicated to working on this investigation, and they will today be interviewing the three people in our custody.

"If anyone has any information at all that they believe may assist us with our enquiries, then please get in touch and tell us what you know."

Anyone with information is asked to contact GMP's Major Incident Team on 0161 856 1722 or contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.

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Castaway Washes Up After '16 Months Adrift'

A castaway has washed up in the remote Marshall Islands claiming he drifted at sea for more than a year - travelling 8,000 miles from where he set sail.

The Mexican man, who identified himself as Jose Ivan, is said to be recovering on Ebon Atoll after the ordeal, surviving by eating turtles, birds and fish and drinking turtle blood when there was no rain.

He had no fishing equipment on the boat, suggesting the man caught food with his bare hands.

Locals discovered Mr Ivan when his 24-foot fibreglass boat with propellerless engines floated onto a reef. He had long hair and a beard and was wearing only ragged underpants.

He told his rescuers he set sail from Mexico for El Salvador in September 2012 and had been floating in the ocean ever since.

He claimed he had a friend with him but he died many months ago.

Ebon mayor Ione de Brum said: "We've been feeding him nutritious island food and he's getting better. He has pain in both knees so he cannot stand up by himself. Otherwise, he's OK."

De Brum said she was communicating with the man using drawings because he cannot speak English and she does not speak Spanish.

Ebon Atoll is in a remote area of the Pacific

"I've gotten to know him through pictures he's drawing. He said he was on his way to El Salvador by boat when it started drifting," she said.

Although communicating with him is difficult, Ms de Brum said the community was doing its best to help him and keep him comfortable; bringing him clothes, food and mosquito coils.

A navy ship has been sent to bring him to the capital Majuro and is expected to arrive in Ebon on Saturday night. After it returns to Majuro the process of getting the man back to Mexico will begin.

There are virtually no islands in the 8,000 mile expanse of the Pacific north of the equator between southern Mexico and the Marshall Islands.

If he had not washed onto the reef at Ebon, it is likely he would have drifted for another 1,000 miles of ocean before making landfall in Papua New Guinea or the Solomon Islands.

Such stories of survival have surfaced before. In 2006, three Mexicans were discovered drifting near the Marshall Islands nine months after setting out on a shark-fishing expedition.

They survived on rainwater, raw fish and seabirds, keeping their hopes of being found alive by reading the Bible.

Castaways from Kiribati in the south often make land in the Marshall Islands after weeks or months at sea in small boats.

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Somerset Floodwater Has High Bacteria Levels

Floodwater in Somerset contains 60 times the amount of safe bacteria for agricultural water, tests for Sky News have found.

Microbiologist Nathaniel Storey, from the University of Reading, took samples from Moorland on Thursday and tested it to see how much bacteria was in the water.

The tests revealed the water contained 60,000 to 70,000 bacteria per 100 millilitres.

The World Health Organisation says agricultural water should have no more than 1,000 bacteria per 100 millilitres.

Bathing water should have no more than 500 bacteria per 100 millilitres.

Mr Storey has told Sky News the amount of bacteria in the floodwater is high.

"It's perhaps unsurprising considering there's septic tanks in these people's gardens that are overflowing and animals within close proximity," he said.

"Therefore all this excrement that's in these areas is being dredged up by the floodwater and taken into houses and into gardens."

He says people who have been near the floodwater should be careful preparing food straight after.

"It's possible they could get some quite nasty gastrointestinal diseases or diarrhoea etc from coming into contact with this floodwater," he said.

The flooded Somerset Levels, near Langport

"People should make sure they wash their hands after coming into contact with the floodwater, especially if they're going to preparing food."

He also warns that it could take about two to three months for the bacteria levels to drop in the region, so people must take precautions during the clean-up operation.

In response to the testing, a Public Health England spokesperson said: "It is unsurprising that samples of flood water have demonstrated the presence of bacteria normally found in the outdoor environment."

About 25 square miles (65 sq km) of the Somerset Levels has been swamped by the worst flooding in the area for 20 years.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he has "enormous sympathy" for the people who live on the flooded Somerset Levels.

But many residents in the area blame the Environment Agency for exacerbating flooding they have experienced over the past month by not dredging the rivers.

There are still severe floods warnings in place across southwest England and the Midlands, after heavy overnight rain, high winds and a high spring tide.

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Hacking Reporter 'Listened To Moss Voicemails'

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent

A self-confessed hacker has told a court he listened to a voicemail left on Kate Moss's phone from actor Daniel Craig and allegedly heard him say: "I love you, I love you, I love you."

Dan Evans, a former tabloid reporter, was being cross-examined at the Old Bailey where he has been giving evidence in the hacking trial.

Evans admitted that he listened to Ms Moss's voicemails after hacking her phone while he worked at the Sunday Mirror.

The Mirror Group has always denied illegal hacking.

Evans has previously pleaded guilty to phone hacking

Evans, who is a prosecution witness, has already told the trial that while he was at the News Of The World (NOTW) he intercepted voicemails between the actors Daniel Craig and Sienna Miller.

Ms Miller is due to give evidence via video link from the US this afternoon.

Evans's account of his hacking has been challenged throughout his cross-examination.

Brooks and Coulson deny the allegations against them

He denied that he could have mixed up the Kate Moss and Sienna Miller accounts, saying they were "two completely separate events".

In court he admitted fiddling his expenses while working at the NOTW, saying it was "part of the culture at the paper but I don't see what it's got to do with hacking phones".

He also said he regularly abused alcohol and cocaine to help him deal with the pressures of his job.

Evans confirmed: "Yeah, I was a recreational drug user."

Evans has already admitted conspiracy to hack phones at the Sunday Mirror between February 2003 and January 2005, and the same offence at the News of the World between April 2004 and June 2010.

He also pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit misconduct in public office between January 2008 and June 2010, and perverting the course of justice by giving a false statement in High Court proceedings.

The seven defendants, including former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and former NOTW Editor Andy Coulson, deny the charges they face.

The trial continues.

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EU In-Out Referendum Bill Killed Off By Peers

By Jon Craig, Chief Political Correspondent

Tory plans to pass a law providing for a 2017 referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union have been killed off in the House of Lords.

After a two significant defeats inflicted by Labour, Lib Dem and crossbench peers in the Lords, peers voted by 180 to 130, a majority of 50, to end the debate of the EU (Referendum) Bill at committee stage in the Lords.

That means there is now not enough time for the Bill to get through all its stages in the Lords and the Commons in time to become law and so it has died a death.

Senior Downing Street sources said David Cameron would attempt to re-introduce the Bill in the next session of Parliament in a bid to get it on the statute book before the next election.

But it is likely to be blocked in the Lords again.

After the Bill collapsed in the Lords, the Prime Minister tweeted: "As Labour and the Lib Dems have killed the Wharton Bill, the one way to guarantee a referendum is to vote Conservative at the General Election."

Tory James Wharton, the backbench MP (Stockton South) who brought forward the legislation as a Private Member's Bill, blamed Labour and Liberal Democrat peers as well.

Mr Wharton said: "Labour and the Lib Dems have conspired in the House of Lords to kill this important piece of legislation, doing the bidding of their political masters in the Commons.

"It's now clearer than it has ever been that it's only the Conservatives who will give people a choice on this important issue. I think many people will be disappointed by what has happened today."

The Tory chief whip in the Lords, Baroness Anelay, blamed Labour.

Mr Cameron blamed Labour and Lib Dems for the defeat

"Labour killed the Bill," she said. "It's proved by the fact that is what their chief whip (Lord Bassam of Brighton) and deputy chief whip (Lord Tunnicliffe) who were the tellers on the motion (to end proceedings). I am disappointed."

Earlier, peers made further changes to the Bill when they voted through changes which would force the Government to provide a full assessment before any proposed referendum in 2017 of what Britain's relationship with Europe would look like if the country withdrew from the EU.

It was a further setback and comes after the Lords last week voted to change the wording of the question that would be put to voters.

This vote, after more than an hour of debate in the Bill's committee stage, was on an amendment brought forward by crossbench peer and former Cabinet Secretary Lord Turnbull to compel the government of the day to lay down before the electorate what it thinks will happen in the event of withdrawal from the EU.

Before the Bill fell in the Lords, speaking at a news conference with French President Francois Hollande, Mr Cameron said "whether the bill succeeds or fails" it made "no difference to the pledge I am making on this in-out referendum".

But Labour peer Lord Anderson of Swansea, who opposed the bill, said Mr Cameron's gamble in promising an in-out referendum would not pay off because Eurosceptic Conservative MPs would always want more.

"And they will ask for more rather like the penguins in the penguin house, they will swallow it down and demand more," said the peer.

"The trouble is that this government may be inclined to give it to them."

He accused Mr Cameron of being in "office but not in power" and losing authority and influence with the UK's EU "allies".

He accused the prime minister of "insulting" Mr Hollande "by saying in effect that the French economy, which is probably true, is substantially worse than our own, but it's not a way of influencing people and making friends."

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