Kercher suspect admits he was in flat

Rudy Guede, the 20-year-old from Ivory Coast accused of murdering Meredith Kercher in Perugia, has told a judge in Germany that he went to her flat on the night of the murder but did not kill her.

Mr Guede was arrested in Germany on Tuesday and is expected to be extradited to Italy within the next week. He is the fourth person to be accused in the killing of the 20-year-old student from Surrey on the night after Halloween.

Two of the others, Amanda Knox and her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, are in custody, while the third, Patrick Lumumba, was released this week as the police have so far found no evidence against him.

Mr Guede, a small-time drug dealer in Perugia, told a judge in Koblenz that he had no sooner arrived at Ms Kercher's home than he was seized with a stomach ache and went to the bathroom. "While I was in the bathroom I heard her scream," he said. "A young Italian man who I didn't know attacked her, stabbed her and ran off."

He claimed that he tried to revive her. "I held her in my arms, I tried to revive her but then I had a panic attack and ran away."

DNA tests confirm that Mr Guede had sex with Ms Kercher before she died.