Meredith Kercher killer Amanda Knox in court over police violence claim

Amanda Knox is to appear before an Italian court accused of slandering police while giving evidence during her trial for the murder of Meredith Kercher, a court confirmed today.

Knox claimed she was hit twice by a police officer while she was being interrogated over the death of British student Meredith Kercher.

The 22-year-old was found guilty of killing Miss Kercher along with Italian former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito in December.

She was jailed for 26 years while he was sentenced to 25 years.

Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found dead in her bedroom in Perugia on November 2, 2007 in the house she lived in with Knox and others on her year abroad in the Umbrian town.

Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body was partially covered by a duvet.

During her trial Knox - dubbed Foxy Knoxy by the media - claimed she had been beaten during questioning by Italian police.

A court official in Perugia confirmed the American student is in court today over her claims, which were denied by police.

The official said: "Amanda Knox is in court in Perugia today accused of slandering the Italian police when she claimed in her trial that they had been violent to her during her interrogation process.

"A preliminary hearing is underway in a different court in Perugia from the one where her trial took place. It is being held behind closed doors."

Giving evidence in June last year Knox, from Seattle, described to the packed courtroom the verbal and physical bullying she claimed she was subjected to during her long interrogation.

She told the court a female police officer hit her twice on the back of her head during questioning - an accusation police denied.

She also said officers threatened her with 30 years in prison if she continued to "lie" about what happened the night Miss Kercher was killed, and said the "long and difficult" interrogation led to her wrongly implicating Congolese bar owner Patrick Lumumba in the murder.