Amanda Knox made a desperate final plea for freedom today

Amanda Knox has made a courtroom appeal against her conviction for the murder of UK student Meredith Kercher, saying she was "paying with her life".

Knox declared: "I am not a promiscuous vamp" as she addressed the jury in Perugia, Italy. Knox, 24, claimed she was betrayed by the Italian authorities after the killing of her flatmate in the city in November 2007. She said: "I am not what they say. I am not a promiscuous vamp. I am not violent. I don't disrespect life ... I didn't do what they say I've done. "I have not killed. I have not raped. I have not stolen anything." 

Speaking in Italian on the final day of her 11-month appeal hearing, she sought to persuade the two judges and the jury who will decide her fate today that she did not murder Meredith, 21, when a sex game went wrong. She said: "I want to go back home. I want to go back to my life. I do not want to be punished. I do not want my life taken away for something that I did not do because I am innocent."

Choking back tears, Knox said she wanted "justice" for her friend Meredith. She said: "I am the same person I was four years ago. The only thing that is different is what I have suffered. "I've lost a friend in the worst, most brutal, most inexplicable way possible. "I'm paying with my life for things that I didn't do." She continued: "I want to go home, I want to return to my life, my future. 

"She had her bedroom next to mine, she was killed in our own apartment. If I had been there that night, I would be dead. "But I was not there." She went on: "My trust in the police authorities has been betrayed. I have had to deal with unfair charges, unfounded charges and I have paid with my life for things I did not commit."She told the packed court room she had never suffered in her life until four years ago and had never before experienced tragedy. She said: "I had never felt so much fear and suffering. I didn't know how to deal with it, how to interpret it." 

Illustration of the Murder Scene

She said cops in Italy betrayed her when she gave her statement, saying: "I was manipulated." She added: "I did not do the things that have been attributed to me." Knox and former Italian lover Raffaele Sollecito, 27, also appealing, were jailed for 26 and 25 years for the crime in 2009. Both delivered final statements to the court this morning. Sollecito said he denied accusing Knox of murdering Leeds University student Meredith, adding it was "totally untrue". 

Knox is said to have been working on her statement for three months. She says she was at Sollecito's house the night Meredith was killed in the cottage the two young women shared while studying in the medieval city. During her four years behind bars, she is understood to have been penning her memoirs, while rumours of million-dollar bids for the first interview with her if she is released are rife. At least one film of the case is also being planned. Jurors will look into the eyes of murdered Meredith's mother for the first time today — as they consider whether to free Knox. 

Meredith's parents Arline and John could not afford to attend the appeal hearing until today. The family from Coulsdon, Surrey, fear a million dollar PR campaign by American beauty Knox's rich family may have helped sway the jury and two judges in their decision. Kercher lawyer Francesco Maresca warned jurors: "You will be able to look them in the eye only once. "For health and financial reasons they have not been able to attend. With one look into their eyes you can confirm the truth.

Many experts believe Knox and Sollecito will be freed. 

Meredith's sister Stephanie said: "She has been completely forgotten. The focus has moved to Amanda. But we need to find justice for Meredith, we need to find the truth for her." But Knox's parents are so sure she will win her appeal they have already bought a plane ticket to whisk her to the States. Her father Curt said of her statement to the court today: "Amanda will be fighting for her life. This is her last chance. "It will be very heartfelt and painful for us all to hear." 

Prosecutors insist Knox and Sollecito DID murder Meredith after forcing her into a depraved sex game. They have compared Knox to a "witch" and a "she-devil". Arrangements were already being made last night for Knox's freedom. A senior prison officer said: "If found not guilty, Knox will return to the prison for an hour. We will fingerprint her and she can go." Meredith was found with her throat slit in the house she shared with Knox. Knox, Sollecito and Rudy Guede were jailed for the murder. Guede, 24, got 16 years.