Amanda Knox takes the stand in Meredith Kercher trial

Amanda Knox claims police pressured her into implicating a former bar owner in the death of British student Meredith Kercher. Giving evidence in a crowded courtroom in Perugia, Italy, Knox, 21, explained why she had named Patrick Lumumba during her interrogation after Miss Kercher's body was found. "Everything (I) said was said in confusion and under pressure," she said. "They (the officers questioning me) were suggesting Patrick Lumumba so the first thing I said was 'OK, Patrick'." She said that before she named Lumumba, police accused her of trying to protect someone. "When I denied that, they called me a stupid liar," she said. Knox, from Seattle in the US, is charged with sexually assaulting and killing the British student. She is on trial alongside her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito. Miss Kercher, 21, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found dead in her bedroom on November 2 2007 in the cottage she shared with Knox and others on her year abroad in the Umbrian city. Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body was partially covered by a duvet. Prosecutors accuse Knox and 25-year-old Sollecito of killing the Leeds University student after she refused to take part in a sex game. Earlier, Knox's father, Kurt Knox, said: "Amanda's a bit nervous about going on to the stand, but she's also quite confident in what she has to say and that the truth will come out during her testimony. "She is going to be telling the truth and answering all of the questions and hopefully the court will see that and see that she had nothing to do with this and that she's 100 per cent innocent."

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ITN | June 12, 2009

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