Fourth time lucky! Amanda Knox says Meredith 'was my friend' as she makes tearful statement outside her Seattle home after she and Raffaele Sollecito were CLEARED by Italian court of murder

Amanda Knox made an emotional statement outside her mother's Seattle home on Friday night - just hours after she was sensationally cleared of murdering British student Meredith Kercher. Surrounded by her father, Curt Knox, mother, Edda Mellas, sister, Deanna Knox, and fiancé, Colin Sutherland, the 27-year-old broke down in tears as she told the press: 'Meredith was my friend and she deserved so much in this life. I am the lucky one.' She added that she was 'full of joy' following Italy's highest court's decision to overturn her murder conviction, saying: 'I'm incredibly grateful for what has happened. For the justice I have received, for the support I have had from everyone, from my family and my friends to strangers.'