Raffaele Sollecito: Acquittal 'Was A Rebirth'

Raffaele Sollecito has given a news conference in Rome after he was acquitted of the murder of British student Meredith Kercher.

The 31-year-old began the conference by thanking his family for supporting him, but said he had been accused of "being an assassin without an element of proof".

He said: "I feel today as though I'm a prisoner who after seven years and five months am free again.

"For me it was a rebirth.

"Seven years and five months is an incredibly long time when you're suffering, when you're living an unbearable tragedy. I felt desperate.

"I can't tell you that I no longer have any pain. I still feel the pain.

"I don't expect from now on ... to be called an assassin and I'll be ready to defend my dignity."

Mr Sollecito and his former girlfriend Amanda Knox were acquitted of murder on Friday by Italy's Supreme Court.

The judges, after 10 hours of deliberation, concluded that a conviction could not be supported by the evidence. Their reasoning will be released within 90 days.

Ms Kercher, who was 21 and from Coulsdon, Surrey, was sexually assaulted and stabbed to death in Perugia in 2007.

Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito spent four years in jail for her murder, but were freed on appeal in 2011.

The American returned to the US before an appeal court threw out the acquittal and reinstated the guilty verdicts last year.

Speaking from Seattle on Saturday , she said: "The knowledge of my innocence has given me strength in the darkest times of this ordeal."

Mr Sollecito hinted that he could write a book about his experiences, but criticised said the public reaction to the case.

He said: "Even today I'm wondering why people would feel that way. Why would people have such a strong lack of respect? Why people hated me so much.

"One day I'll write a book - maybe I won't. It feels like a never ending period of time.

"It's affected my heart, it's affected my mind. This wound will always bleed - it will never stop bleeding because I feel that it will never heal."

Ms Knox was originally sentenced to 28 years and Mr Sollecito 25 for the murder.

The couple maintained their innocence, insisting they had spent the evening together at Mr Sollecito's home watching a film, smoking marijuana and having sex.

Rudy Guede, from the Ivory Coast, was convicted of the murder in a separate trial. He is serving a 16-year jail sentence.