Two former lovers suspected of killing Leeds University student Meredith Kercher are to find out if the case will go to trial.

Judge Paolo Micheli will decide on Tuesday whether Amanda Knox, 21, and Raffaele Sollecito, 24, should be formally charged for the murder of the 21-year-old exchange student on her year abroad in Perugia, Italy, last November.

But prosecutor Giuliano Mignini advised against placing them under house arrest and said they should remain behind bars until any trial takes place, suggesting fears they may flee.

The body of Miss Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found on November 2 in her room in the house she was sharing with Knox and others.

She was semi-naked and her throat had been slit.

American Knox and Italian Sollecito have been accused of killing her in a bungled sex game, alongside third suspect Rudy Hermann Guede, 21.

Lawyers for all three suspects are confident their clients will be cleared, they told reporters outside court.

But Knox's lawyer Carlo Dalla Vedova said in the case of a trial he had requested Knox be placed under house arrest at San Fatucchio - a supervised community and farm for recovering drug addicts and young offenders in rural Umbria, run by Catholic charity Caritas.

Miss Kercher's family are due to arrive in the Umbrian hilltop town on Tuesday to hear the verdicts.

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