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FLORENCE

‘I need your help to face this ordeal’ – Sollecito

Raffaele Sollecito, who will face a retrial for the murder of British student Meredith Kercher next year, is calling on Facebook users to help raise €370,000 to pay his legal bill.

'I need your help to face this ordeal' - Sollecito
Raffaele Sollecito aims to raise €370,000. Photo: Tiziana Fabi/AFP
Sollecito and his former American girlfriend, Amanda Knox  – orginally sentenced to 26 and 25 years for killing  Kercher at her home in Perugia in 2007 – were acquitted on appeal in 2011 after spending four years in jail.
 
However, Italy's highest court ordered a retrial in March.
 
Sollecito created a GoFundMe website earlier today, with a target of raising €370,000 for the retrial, which is due to take place in Florence next year. 
 
“I don’t have resources anymore to fight this injustice,” he says on the page. “I badly need to be able to hire experts, when needed, or pay my attorney's fees, documents fees, and so on when the new appeal will start." 
 
He added: “I hope not to bother you, but I need your help to face this ordeal. I don’t want to be forced to give up just for financial reasons.”
 
The page has so far attracted individual donations of up to €193.
 
Italy’s supreme court on Tuesday issued a 74-page document detailing the numerous inconsistencies it found in the acquittal. Knox's lawyer, Luciano Ghirga, said he was "very surprised" by the report, which means DNA evidence will need to be re-examined from scratch.
 
A third person, Ivory Coast-born Rudy Guede, remains in prison having had his 30-year sentence for Kercher’s murder reduced to 16 years on appeal.

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FLORENCE

British man found dead in Florence hotel named as ex-rugby league player

A man found dead in a hotel room in Florence was named by Italian media on Sunday as British former rugby league player Ricky Bibey.

British man found dead in Florence hotel named as ex-rugby league player

A man was found dead on Saturday in the Hotel Continentale after a woman he was with cried out for help, according to unconfirmed media reports.

Italian news outlets have identified the victim as Ricky Bibey, a two-time Challenge Cup winner with Wigan Warriors and St Helens. Police have yet to confirm the dead man’s identity.

Super League tweeted it was “saddened to hear of the passing of Ricky Bibey”.

“We thank Ricky for his contributions to the game and send our condolences to Ricky’s family and friends during this time”.

A maid rushed in to find the 43-year old woman bleeding heavily from serious injuries, and she was rushed to hospital, La Nazione daily newspaper said.

Bibey, 40, appeared to have died of a heart attack, it said.

Other guests at the Continentale, just next to the Tuscan city’s famous Ponte Vecchio bridge, reportedly heard shouts coming from the room.

Police seized objects including items possibly used in an erotic game, La Nazione said.

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