Amanda Knox Ruling Cites 'Sex Game' Theory

Italy's top criminal court has said its decision to order a retrial of Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend in the murder of Meredith Kercher was made because their acquittals contained shortcomings and contradictions.

The Court of Cassation also said the possibility that Briton Miss Kercher was killed in a sex game that had got out of hand needs to be revisited.

Knox and her Italian ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito were initially found guilty of killing the 21-year-old Leeds University student, but both were cleared on appeal in 2011.

In March of this year, however, Italy's top court overturned the acquittals and ordered a retrial. That court has only now issued its written reasoning for doing so.

Knox was convicted in 2009

It picked apart the lower court's judgment freeing Knox, saying it contained "shortcomings, contradictions and inconsistencies" and "openly collides with objective facts of the case".

The high court's 74-page document also said the judges who freed Knox undervalued the fact that the American had initially accused a man of committing the crime who had nothing to do with it.

Miss Kercher's body was found in November 2007 in her bedroom of the house she shared with Knox in Perugia. Her throat had been slashed.

Knox and Sollecito have denied any involvement, saying they were not in the apartment at the time.

Raffaele Sollecito was Knox's boyfriend at the time of the murder

A young man from Ivory Coast, Rudy Guede, was convicted of the killing in a separate proceeding and is serving a 16-year sentence.

But Guede is not believed to have acted alone.

The high court judges said the retrial would serve to "demonstrate the presence of the two suspects in the place of the crime".

They said hypotheses that must be considered involve "a group erotic game that blew up and went out of control", and urged the retrial to conduct a full examination of evidence to resolve the ambiguities.

No date has been set for the retrial.

Knox, who left Italy a free woman after her 2011 acquittal, is back in Seattle and is not expected to attend the new trial.

Italian law cannot compel her to return as defendants can be tried in absentia.

She has recently released a book titled Waiting To Be Heard.

Knox was emotional in Seattle after her 2011 acquittal

Sollecito has spent time in Switzerland trying to start a new life, but it has emerged that his residency permit has been revoked by the Swiss authorities.

In his application, he failed to mention his involvement in a criminal case, Italian news reports said.

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'Most Gifted Teacher' Forrest Sobs In Court

A man accused of abducting a schoolgirl and taking her to France wept in court as he was described as "one of the most gifted teachers".

Lewes Crown Court was also told that Jeremy Forrest, who denies a charge of child abduction, will not be giving evidence during his trial.

The court previously heard that the pupil involved in the case was 15 years old when she started a sexual relationship with Forrest after developing a crush on him at Bishop Bell CofE School in Eastbourne, Sussex.

Fearing they were about to be exposed, Forrest booked them on a cross-Channel ferry from Dover to Calais last September before spending a week on the run in France.

The 30-year-old broke down in tears as a witness statement read out in court said he was "one of most gifted teachers I have ever met". Forrest was also said to be "popular with pupils".

He was described as a "talented and inspirational" teacher who "cared for others" and who has spent his time in prison teaching other inmates.

Benedict Beaumont, a former ICT teacher at Bishop Bell School, said: "Jeremy was one of the most gifted teachers that I have ever met.

"In my opinion, one of the reasons that he was such a good teacher was that he cared deeply about the welfare of all his pupils.

"He was popular with pupils and staff at the school, but more importantly was respected by everyone as a talented and conscientious teacher.

"He is still relatively young but had a very bright future in teaching ahead of him."

Forrest continued crying as a statement from his sister, Carrie Hanspaul, said she believed his caring nature had got him into trouble.

"Jeremy has always been the quietest of us all," her statement said.

"He is very good natured and extremely mild-mannered. He never has a bad word to say about anyone and always strives to do whatever he can to help other people and care for them.

"Unfortunately I believe this has contributed to his recent actions. Jeremy has been in a very difficult relationship for the last six years but did not want to worry any of his family, especially our parents, with his problems.

"Instead he withdrew more and more and tried to deal with the issues himself. I believe he became more and more depressed."

A statement provided by his best friend, Dale Ives Routlett, said Forrest had "always been a thinker, not a person who made rash decisions without taking consequences into account".

Ronald Jaffa, defending, told the court that Forrest would not be giving evidence.

Summing up the prosecution case, Richard Barton told the jury Forrest could be considered as a "paedophile" who had "groomed" the schoolgirl.

"You do not have to decide whether he was a paedophile; you may consider, in the context of what he did, that is not an inappropriate label for him," he said.

"It is about his desires to have that young sexual flesh, to satisfy his own carnal lusts. You may feel it had nothing to do with her, it was to do with him, with his desires.

"You may feel he is a man who is flattered by the attention of very young, vulnerable girls.

"There is a word for it. It's called grooming - being caring, being kind, being close, gaining confidence, gaining the trust of that person and then you can do what you want to do with them."

Mr Barton said it was not a case of Romeo and Juliet as they would have to have been "equal" partners in what happened. He said in this case it was Forrest who organised the elopement.

"A teenager isn't going to get out of Eastbourne, let alone out of the country."

Then, directing his speech at Forrest, he said: "How did you feel, Mr Forrest, that first time with that 14-year-old girl in the classroom in her school uniform, when you kissed her the first time?"

More follows...

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NHS Watchdog In 'Hospital Scandal Cover-Up'

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has said the cover up of the failure by an NHS watchdog to properly investigate baby deaths at a hospital should never have happened.

The Care Quality Commission has been accused of destroying their own report into maternity units that were part of University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Trust.

Mr Hunt's statement to the House of Commons came after an independent investigation found the CQC failed to properly inspect the Morecambe Bay Trust, where 16 babies died.

Joshua Titcombe died in Furness General Hospital after staff failures

Mr Hunt said: "What happened at Morecambe Bay is above all a terrible personal tragedy for all the families involved.

"I want to apologise on behalf of the Government for all the appalling suffering they have endured.

Furness General Hospital in Cumbria, which has been criticised

"Events at Morecombe Bay and many other hospitals should never have been covered up, but they should never have happened either."

Concerns were first raised in 2008, but in 2010 the CQC gave the trust, which serves 365,000 people in South Cumbria and North Lancashire, a clean bill of health.

MP Tim Farron called for an urgent question to be tabled in the Commons

Wednesday's report suggests that CQC bosses were so concerned about protecting the watchdog's reputation that they ordered an internal review to be deleted because it showed that their original inspection was flawed.

The new report details one official saying that he was told by a senior manager in March last year to destroy his review because it would expose the regulator to public criticism.

The report said the official was told by a member of senior management at CQC to 'delete' the report of his findings.

Mr Hunt said a number of actions were being taken to prevent problems occurring in the future.

James Titcombe, whose baby son Joshua died aged just nine days old in Furness General Hospital in 2008 after staff failed to spot and treat an infection, described the report as "shocking".

"It embodies everything that is wrong with the culture in the NHS. It's something that's been rotten really about the system," he said.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is to make a statement after PMQs

"We need it to change. We need that culture to change. Patient safety should be the number one priority, and organisations that work within regulation need to be aligned with that principle."

Responding to the report's findings, the regulator said: "We let people down, and we apologise for that.

"This report reveals just how poor the Care Quality Commission's (CQC) oversight of University Hospitals Morecambe Bay (UHMB) was in 2010.

"This is not the way things should have happened. It is not the way things will happen in the future. We will use the report to inform the changes we are making to improve the way we work and the way we are run."

It insisted there was "no evidence of a systematic cover-up" and promised "more thorough inspections".

CQC chairman David Prior said: "The publication draws a line in the sand for us. What happened in the past was wholly unacceptable.

"The report confirms our view that at a senior level the organisation was dysfunctional. The board and the senior executive team have been radically changed."

Westmorland General Hospital, where Morecambe Bay NHS Trust is based

Shadow health minister Jamie Reed said: "First, we need to know who took the decision to delete this report, who else was party to the decision and what the justification was for so doing.

"Second, urgent clarity is needed on whether the CQC had any contact with the Department of Health about this matter and if so, what was the nature of that contact."

The CQC, which faces at least 30 civil negligence claims, is to be subject to a public inquiry.

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Obama Speaks In Berlin 50 Years After JFK

President Barack Obama is in Germany where he will push for a reduction of the world's nuclear stockpiles.

His speech in Berlin will include a proposal for a one-third reduction in US and Russian arsenals, the White House has said.

The president will make his case during a speech at Berlin's iconic Brandenburg Gate.

His address comes 50 years after John F. Kennedy's famous Cold War speech in this once-divided city.

Mr Obama has previously called for reductions to the stockpiles and is not expected to outline a timeline for this renewed push.

But by addressing the issue in a major foreign policy speech, he is signalling a desire to rekindle an issue that was a centrepiece of his early first-term national security agenda.

Mr Obama's call for cooperation with Russia on the nuclear issue comes at a time of tension between Washington and Moscow, which are supporting opposite sides in Syria's civil war.

John F. Kennedy in 1963, when the Berlin Wall divided the city

The US leader discussed non-proliferation with Russian President Vladimir Putin when they met this week on the sidelines of a G8 summit in Northern Ireland.

Mr Obama's Brandenburg Gate speech is going to be a momentous occasion.

On June 26, 1963, Mr Kennedy addressed a crowd of 450,000 in Berlin to repudiate communism and famously declare "Ich bin ein Berliner", German for "I am a Berliner".

Mr Obama also met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The president once again defended secret surveillance programmes that have been unveiled in leaks to the The Guardian and The Washington Post.

He said "lives had been saved" and about 50 terror plots thwarted, in comments that echoed similar remarks by the NSA chief, General Keith Alexander, to Congress.

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Saatchi: 'Nigella Lawson Caution Was Best'

Advertising guru Charles Saatchi says he took a police caution for assaulting his wife Nigella Lawson to avoid having the incident "hanging over all of us".

The 70-year-old voluntarily attended a central London police station and accepted the caution after photographs emerged showing his hand around Lawson's neck.

The pair were pictured having an argument on the terrace of a restaurant on June 9.

Lawson, 53, the daughter of former chancellor Lord Lawson, was reportedly seen weeping following the episode outside Scott's in Mayfair, central London.

Speaking to the London Evening Standard, Saatchi said: "Although Nigella made no complaint, I volunteered to go to Charing Cross station and take a police caution after a discussion with my lawyer because I thought it was better than the alternative of this hanging over all of us for months."

Police cautions are not criminal convictions and are given to adults who admit minor offences. Failure to agree to be cautioned can lead to an arrest or charge.

Earlier, Saatchi told the Standard: "About a week ago, we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella's neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point.

"There was no grip, it was a playful tiff.

"The pictures are horrific, but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place.

"Nigella's tears were because we both hate arguing, not because she had been hurt.

"We had made up by the time we were home. The paparazzi were congregated outside our house after the story broke yesterday morning, so I told Nigella to take the kids off till the dust settled."

Lawson's spokesperson said there would not be any comment on Saatchi's explanation, but did confirm that she "isn't at the family home".

Police confirmed they had not received a complaint of assault from Lawson or anyone else.

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Ian Brady Said To Have Chronic Anger Levels

Moors murderer Ian Brady has been denied the use of a pen because of fears he will use it as a weapon against other patients at the psychiatric hospital where he is being kept.

On the second day of a mental health tribunal being held in public, a lawyer representing Ashworth Hospital said he has "chronic levels" of anger which "can erupt on the smallest provocation".

The serial killer, who has been at the maximum security hospital for 26 years, wants to be transferred to a prison to spend the rest of his life behind bars.

Sky's North of England Correspondent Mike McCarthy, who is watching proceedings, said: "Eleanor Grey QC portrayed Brady as an irritable and frequently hostile and angry individual who lied about the past and targeted other patients or members of staff with 'verbal tirades'.

"She said he was aloof and suffered paranoia and suspicion which made him fearful of attack from fellow patients."

Ian Brady in police custody in 1965

Dr Adrian Grounds, a forensic psychiatrist who has interviewed Brady several times over 10 years, said he has been known to target staff with "intense ill-feeling and aggression".

He described him as a "very opinionated man" who occasionally shouts at the television and does not form close relationships.

However, he said Brady no longer requires treatment for mental illness, adding that although he has a severe personality disorder, it does not amount to psychosis.

Miss Grey QC said: "(Brady) is extremely socially withdrawn or isolated, at least since the withdrawal of his pen.

"He's got a nocturnal existence really, only coming out at night time when other patients are not there.

"At present he's currently sleeping under the covers but with his clothes on."

Myra Hindley and Ian Brady became known as the Moors murderers

The tribunal heard Brady has been spotted watching static on a television screen in his room at Ashworth.

He has made it known that he wants to starve himself to death, although Dr Grounds said his hunger strikes are protests against his treatment, not a sign of suicidal intent.

The 75-year-old left the hearing at Ashworth after around an hour, leaving doctors and lawyers to continue without him.

The tribunal is being relayed by video link to Manchester Civil Justice Centre, where journalists and victims' relatives have been watching on TV screens.

The hearing, which is expected to last about a week, was postponed last July because Brady suffered a seizure.

Brady and his partner Myra Hindley were responsible for the murders of five youngsters in the 1960s.

Some of their victims were sexually tortured before being buried on Saddleworth Moor above Manchester.

Pauline Reade, 16, John Kilbride, aged 12, Keith Bennett, also 12, Lesley Ann Downey, 10 and 17-year-old Edward Evans were all victims of the pair.

Keith Bennett's remains were never found, despite extensive searches and police taking the killers back to the Moor in 1987.

Hindley died in jail in November 2002, aged 60.

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Forrest Trial: Girl's Mum Feared She Was Dead

The mother of a schoolgirl allegedly abducted by her teacher feared her daughter was dead when the pair went missing, a court has heard.

Lewes Crown Court is hearing evidence from the woman, whose daughter was 15 when an alleged sexual relationship began between her and 30-year-old Jeremy Forrest.

She said she was first warned by the school about rumours surrounding her daughter and Forrest after a school trip to Los Angeles in February 2012.

Her daughter "broke down" when she confronted her and said they were "just nasty rumours".

The court heard that in the summer of last year, Forrest called the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

The mother said he was "seriously concerned" about his career and that he wanted to "nip (the rumours) in the bud" before the new school year at Bishop Bell C of E School in Eastbourne, East Sussex.

"He alluded that (my daughter) was being a bit of a pain, he said (she) kept hanging around him," she told the court.

"He said he couldn't allow this to ruin his career so I had a conversation with him, I felt I was coaching him, consoling him because he was getting quite upset on the phone.

"He was upset about it getting worse, he kept going on and on about his career."

She said she apologised over her daughter's behaviour and that she was "mortified that my daughter could put someone in that position".

"I was horrified, ashamed and I had a go at her," she said. "Clearly I was upset and she knew I was upset.

"She said 'It's not true', she was in tears, she broke down, she said 'It's not true, it's not true'."

A police officer turned up at the girl's home in September and told the mother there were reports of indecent images of Forrest on her daughter's phone, the court heard.

Her daughter was "angry" about the claims and handed over her phone for them to look at.

The court has heard that, fearing they were about to be exposed, Forrest booked them on a cross-Channel ferry from Dover to Calais on September 20 last year before spending seven days on the run in France.

The mother said she did not know the whereabouts of her daughter for the seven days before she was found.

She also said that she had not given permission to Forrest to take her away and would not have done if asked.

"I thought she was dead and I did ask the police that as well," she said.

Earlier, the court heard evidence from friends of the teenager, who is now 16.

One told police that the girl had stayed at Forrest's house while his wife was away.

The teenage witness, who counted herself among the schoolgirl's best friends, told police that the schoolgirl would be picked up by Forrest in his car after school and they would go to a crematorium to talk.

She said they would spend time at hotels as well as his home.

Scots-born Forrest, of Chislehurst Road, Petts Wood, Kent, denies child abduction. The trial continues.

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G8 Summit: Syria Dominates Lough Erne Talks

A joint statement on the conflict in Syria is set to be agreed by leaders at the G8 summit - but will not call for the removal of Bashar al Assad's regime.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has become increasingly isolated over his continued support of Syria's leader, with the other seven members of the G8 keen to push through a communique on the issue by the end of the two-day summit.

While it is understood a compromise is likely to be reached, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sky News his country would not sign up to any statement that demanded Mr Assad relinquish power.

Differences persist between the US and Russia over Syria

"We do think that it's completely the decision of the Syrian parties themselves to decide on both the composition of the transitional body with full authority and also on the future of any person including President Assad," he said.

Officials from one western nation told AFP news agency that the statement was likely to focus on less contentious issues such as the need to push for a peace conference in Geneva and on humanitarian aid.

David Cameron and Barack Obama were among those leaders who failed to hide their differences with Mr Putin following a late-night showdown over the Syrian issue, which threatens to overshadow the gathering of leaders in Northern Ireland.

Downing Street welcomed a "very positive" response from Mr Putin at the summit dinner, reviving hopes for a peace conference to pave the way for a political transition in the war-torn Middle Eastern state.

While British officials also said the other seven G8 nations could go as far as issuing their own end-of-conference statement on Syria without Russia, there were signals that Mr Putin was ready to sign up.

The Russian president and his US counterpart met for an hour of talks at Enniskillen's Lough Erne golf resort and in a grim-faced news conference afterwards said they had agreed to push all the parties in the conflict to attend the Geneva conference.

"Of course our opinions do not converge, but all of us have the intention to stop the violence in Syria and stop the growth in the number of victims," said Mr Putin, who has been dismissive of White House plans to begin arming selected rebel groups in Syria.

He said he and the US president agreed that the vicious civil war must end "peacefully" and through peace talks.

"We agreed to push the parties to the negotiating table."

Mr Obama simply acknowledged that they had "different perspectives" on Syria.

Poles apart? David Cameron meets Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G8

Sources had suggested Mr Putin was ready to sign up to five key principles discussed at last night's dinner.

The five points include support for a transitional authority that will command the support of all Syria's communities - effectively ruling out a place for Mr Assad.

Mr Cameron, who Downing Street confirmed went for a lone swim in Lough Erne this morning, described last night's discussions on Syria as "encouraging".

But British Chancellor George Osborne told Sky News that divisions remained between Russia and other nations.

"There was the discussion on Syria and no-one's going to pretend that everyone saw eye-to-eye," he said.

"Everyone knows that Russia's got a different position. The Prime Minister told me that at the end of the dinner there was a clear commitment around the table to push for a political solution to this humanitarian tragedy."

Free Syrian Army fighters fire a rocket at Assad forces in Aleppo

Sky's Foreign Affairs Editor Tim Marshall said: "All they are really saying is 'We are discussing it and it looks like we are actually doing something, it looks as if we're making progress'.

"But, in fact, they're not making any progress at all. We are no further forward on Syria than we were before the G8 started and no further forward than we were two months ago when the idea of a peace conference was first mooted."

The annual gathering of world leaders comes days after Mr Obama suggested the US may send weapons to opposition forces.

Mr Putin has warned that weapons could end up in the hands of extremists opposed to European values, who "eat the organs" of their enemies. He has also said he is ready to supply Mr Assad with anti-aircraft missiles.

Sky's Middle East Correspondent Sam Kiley said it was important for Mr Assad's forces that, while maintaining pressure on Aleppo, the government cut off the supply lines between the Syrian city and Turkey.

"Because, in all likelihood, any plan to send weapons to the rebels, wherever they are, will use that north-south axis," he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Cameron's official spokesman said a "very strong" declaration was expected at the G8 summit on ending ransom payments to terrorists.

"It will be around the G8 governments not paying ransoms to terrorist organisations and a commitment to work with businesses and other groups in each country, with the objective of suffocating terrorist sources of financing," said the spokesman.

Mr Cameron hopes to secure consensus today on an international initiative to tackle tax evasion and aggressive tax avoidance by sharing information between tax authorities.

But campaigners raised concerns that any agreement on tax information-sharing may be confined only to the rich world, leaving out the developing countries which miss out on billions in tax revenues because of individuals and companies secreting their wealth in offshore bolt-holes.

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Ohio Kidnap: Rescue Recordings Released

Cleveland Police have released recordings of the moments after stunned officers arrived at a house where three women had been held captive for 10 years.

In the recordings one of the first medics arriving at the scene after Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight escaped can be heard telling colleagues in a shaking voice: "This might be for real."

The exchanges over the emergency services radio system came after Amanda Berry escaped and called 911 while alleged captor Ariel Castro was out of the house on Monday. 

An operator is initially heard calmly relaying the details of Ms Berry's call to colleagues, telling them: "I have a call taken on the phone with a female that says her name is Amanda Berry and that she has been kidnapped 10 years ago.

"She's saying that the male is Ariel Castro, 52-year-old Hispanic male that lives at 2207 Seymour, and he's been holding her here for 10 years."

Soon after - with a panicked female voice, thought to be Amanda Berry, in the background - an officer says: "Adam 23, you got a box comin'? This might be for real."

As the distraught woman starts telling her story, the same officer says: "There might be others in the house ... Georgina DeJesus might be in this house also."

The next voice audible on the recording is from one of the first officers to arrive at Castro's house.

With the sound of a woman crying clearly audible over the police radio, the breathless medic tells dispatchers: "We found 'em ... we found 'em."

The next caller from inside the house says: "We got a female called Sabrina (sic), she's got a young child with her."

As the officers move through the house and discover the scale of the crime, they discover a second adult female and radio through to say: "Make it two."

A colleague adds: "We also have a Michelle Knight in the house ...  you wanna look that up in the system ... 32-years-old."

Ariel Castro has been charged with kidnap and rape in connection with the women's imprisonment.

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Urgent Hunt For Toddler After Mum Found Dead

A desperate search is underway for an 18-month-old toddler whose mother was found dead along with two male friends on a farm in eastern Kansas.

Police identified the victims as 21-year-old Kaylie Bailey - who went missing last week with her daughter Lana - and her partner 30-year-old Andrew Stout and his friend 31-year-old Steven White.

They did not reveal how the three people died.

On the day she disappeared, the young mother had planned to drop her daughter off at the farm for the day so she could go to work.

The two men had not been seen since late April. They were reported to have been sharing the house with other men who were known to the authorities.

Kaylie Bailey pictured on her Facebook page

Investigators from the Franklin County Sheriff's Office said they are questioning a man picked up in Emporia, a community about 50 miles southwest of the Ottawa home where the decomposing bodies were found.

He is described as a person of interest. No charges have been filed.

The young mother's car was also found in Emporia late on Tuesday, but police have not said whether the man they were questioning had been driving it.

Kaylie Bailey's family spoke at a news conference on Wednesday night.

"We were very hopeful that Kaylie would not be the female victim but of course we always knew that that was a strong possibility," said her sister Shawna Pettijohn.

Steven White was one of the two men found dead at the farm

"It's been very difficult for all the family," added Andy Pettijohn, as he appealed for help in finding his missing granddaughter.

"What we are hoping is he could not bring himself to kill this child, knowing that she cannot be a witness and she's not going to identify him or anything ... that he says I can't bring it in my heart to do this to a youngster like this, those baby blue eyes."

Police had been expected to announce an Amber Alert for the missing girl, amid strong local criticism that no such emergency appeal had been made.

But the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) ruled against the idea, saying it was too late in the day for such a move.  

"We just got off the phone with the KBI. We've been told that based on their criteria and the information that they have, they've denied the Amber Alert. They'll be doing a state wide media release," Sheriff Jeff Richards of Franklin County said.

Lana's father, Shawn Bailey, is currently serving a jail sentence in Missouri. 

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