THIS is the moment Amanda Knox broke down in tears after Italy’s highest court upheld her slander conviction in a final twist to the Meredith Kercher murder saga.

Knox, who was acquitted in 2015 of the 2007 killing of her British roommate Meredith, lost her appeal against a slander charge for wrongly accusing her former boss Patrick Lumumba of murder.

The Congolese man owned a bar where Knox, then a university student, had worked part-time.

The decision, handed down on Thursday, leaves American Knox, 37, with a permanent criminal record in Italy.

In a tearful YouTube video titled Slander Verdict Reaction, Knox opened up about the ruling: “I’m a little bit astonished because I had higher hopes of the court in Rome.

“But there’s nothing else I can do… It’s really disappointing because there’s nothing else I can do.

“That means I just have a criminal record forever for something I didn’t do.”

She also took to X after failing to overturn her slander conviction, saying: “My raw reactions to the verdict today are in the link below.

“The irony is that while being wrongly convicted of slander, I’m the most slandered person in this whole saga.

“The police, prosecutor, media, courts, and the killer Rudy Guede, have all slandered me to no end.”

The slander conviction relates to Knox’s 2007 police interrogation during which she accused Mr Lumumba, her then-boss at the bar in Perugia, of murdering Meredith.

Mr Lumumba was arrested and spent two weeks in jail before being released when investigators found no forensic evidence linking him to the crime.

Knox, who was 20 at the time, later wrote a handwritten note questioning her false accusation, but the damage had been done.

Mr Lumumba said the ordeal led to the closure of his bar, Le Chic, and continues to cast a shadow over his life.

Following Thursday’s verdict, the man said he was “very satisfied” with it, CNN reports.

He said: “Amanda did wrong, this sentence must accompany her for the rest of her life.

“I had a good feeling about this since the afternoon.

“I hail Italian justice with great honour.”

Knox, who did not attend the hearing at Italy’s top court on Thursday and followed it from the US, does not face any additional jail time.

That’s because the sentence counted as time already served in prison.

This was the final chapter of a complex 17-year legal saga full of twists and turns.

Amanda Knox’s legal troubles began when Meredith’s body was found in the apartment the two students shared in Perugia.

Knox and her then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were convicted of Kercher’s murder, acquitted, and later re-convicted before finally being cleared in 2015.

But the slander conviction has remained a point of contention throughout Knox’s long legal battle.

In 2023, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that Knox’s rights were violated during the 2007 interrogation that led to her accusation against Mr Lumumba.

But Italian courts have upheld the slander charge, including Thursday’s ruling by the high court.

Knox, who attended a June 2024 hearing in Florence, had told the court she regretted not retracting the accusation against Mr Lumumba sooner, describing herself at the time as “a young person in an existential crisis.”

The American, from Seattle, previously insisted she is “a victim” after being found guilty of slander.

Fighting back tears, she told Sky News at the time: “I didn’t slander Patrick; I didn’t kill my friend [Meredith]. I will come back here as many times as I have to fight against this injustice”.

She added that she had been “unjustly accused” for her “entire adult life”.

Meanwhile, the lead prosecutor in Knox’s murder trial has told how the pair became friends — after bonding over a love of fantasy fiction books.

Giuliano Mignini was contacted by Knox — whom he jailed for 26 years over the 2007 death of her flatmate, British student Meredith — as she wanted to meet him.

Hoping to learn the truth behind Meredith’s killing — of which Knox was cleared on appeal in 2015 — he agreed.

She flew in from Seattle and they met at a church in Perugia, the Italian city where Meredith died.

Mr Mignini, 74, told The Sun on Sunday he was surprised at the visit.

He said: “It’s never happened that a person whom I had asked for a life sentence behaved in this way.

“Usually, the accused sees me with hostility.”

On their shared love of fantasy books, he added: “We are both fans of Tolkien books, like The Lord Of The Rings.”

Timeline of Meredith Kercher saga

November 1, 2007 – The murder of Meredith Kercher: British exchange student Meredith Kercher, 21, is found dead in the apartment she shares with Amanda Knox in Perugia, Italy. Her throat is slashed, and signs suggest she may have been sexually assaulted.

November 6, 2007 – Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito arrested: Amanda Knox, her Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, and Patrick Lumumba, Knox’s boss at a local bar, are arrested in connection with Kercher’s murder. Knox accuses Lumumba of the killing during a police interrogation.

November 20, 2007 – Patrick Lumumba released: Lumumba is released after police find no forensic evidence linking him to the murder. He was falsely implicated by Knox during a contentious interrogation.

December 6, 2007 – Rudy Guede arrested in Germany: Rudy Guede, a 20-year-old Ivorian man, is arrested in Germany and extradited to Italy. His DNA is found on Kercher’s body and at the crime scene.

October 28, 2008 – Guede convicted of murder: Guede opts for a fast-track trial and is convicted of Kercher’s murder. He is sentenced to 30 years in prison, later reduced to 16 on appeal.

January 16, 2009 – Knox and Sollecito trial begins: Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito stand trial for the murder of Kercher. Prosecutors allege a sex game gone wrong, while the defence argues that Guede acted alone.

December 4, 2009 – Knox and Sollecito convicted: Knox and Sollecito are found guilty. Knox is sentenced to 26 years in prison; Sollecito receives 25 years.

November 24, 2010 – Appeals process begins: Knox and Sollecito appeal their convictions. A key focus is the forensic evidence, including DNA found on a knife and a bra clasp.

October 3, 2011 – Knox and Sollecito acquitted: An appeals court overturns their convictions, citing errors in the forensic investigation. Knox is freed and returns to Seattle.

March 26, 2013 – Italy’s Supreme Court orders retrial: Italy’s Court of Cassation annuls the acquittals, ordering a retrial for Knox and Sollecito.

January 30, 2014 – Knox and Sollecito reconvicted: Knox and Sollecito are reconvicted in their retrial. Knox, now in the U.S., is sentenced to 28.5 years in prison.

March 25, 2015 – Final acquittal: Italy’s Supreme Court definitively acquits Knox and Sollecito of Kercher’s murder, citing lack of evidence and glaring errors in the investigation.

November 2021 – Rudy Guede released: Rudy Guede, the sole person definitively convicted in connection with Kercher’s death, is released from prison after serving 13 years.

2023 – present – Knox’s slander conviction: Despite her acquittal, Knox is convicted of slander for falsely accusing Patrick Lumumba.

2023: The European Court of Human Rights rules that Knox’s rights were violated during her 2007 interrogation.

June 2024: An Italian court upholds her slander conviction, a decision confirmed by Italy’s high court in January 2025.