Italy's highest appeals court has ruled that two suspects in the murder of British student Meredith Kercher must remain in custody because of their ''negative personalities'', it disclosed on Monday.
The court decided on April 1 to keep Kercher's 20-year-old American flatmate Amanda Marie Knox and her 24-year-old Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito behind bars as police continue their investigation into the murder of the university exchange student in Perugia last November.
Under Italian law, the suspects can be kept in jail for up to a year.
Ruling on Amanda Knox, the Cassation Court said it had taken into account her ''negative personality'', poor attitude to court proceedings and the fact that she had repeatedly contradicted herself when giving testimony.
The court added that there was a ''real and concrete'' danger that Knox might flee the country on her release.
It also had ''reasonable'' concerns over the possibility that Sollecito might go into hiding if he were bailed.
The court also cited Sollecito's ''fragility of character and peculiarities of personality'' that could not be attributed to ''innocuous youthful stereotypes'' and a ''marked habitual use of drugs'' as reasons for its decision.
Sollecito's early admission that he ''had told a load of rubbish'' to investigators also went against him, the court said.
In both cases, the court ruled that there was sufficient evidence to keep the pair locked up while the investigation continues.
A third suspect, 21-year-old Ivory Coast national Rudy Guede, also remains in custody.
Kercher, 22, was found with her throat slashed on November 2 in the house she shared in Perugia with Knox and two other girls.
In January investigators said they were confident they would wrap up the case by the end of the summer.
Although they admit they remain in the dark about the motive, they claim the forensic evidence they have gathered so far against the three suspects in custody is solid.
This evidence is said to include Sollecito's DNA on the victim's bra, which police say definitively placed him at the scene of the crime.
The DNA was found on a small piece of cloth cut by a knife close to the bra's fastener.
Guede's DNA was found in the toilet at the murder scene and in a vaginal swab of the victim.
He also left a bloody fingerprint on Kercher's pillow.
Forensic tests also identified Guede's DNA on the victim's purse, which had been on her bed, as well as on the cuff of her tracksuit.
Guede, as opposed to Knox and Sollecito, has admitted being at the scene of the crime but denies any involvement.
He says that although he had been with Meredith in her bedroom, he was in the bathroom when the student was attacked.
He also claims to have seen Meredith's murderer, with whom he tusseled briefly, and that he heard someone else talking from the doorway of the house.
According to leaked testimony, last month Guede told the public prosecutor that the other people in the house were Sollecito and Knox, despite earlier claims that he was not able to identify the pair.
Other forensic evidence includes a large kitchen knife found in Sollecito's kitchen which had the victim's DNA on the blade and Knox's DNA on the handle.
DNA belonging to both Knox and Kercher were also identified in a drop of blood found in the victim's bathroom.
