The man who murdered British student Meredith Kercher in Italy has been charged with assaulting his ex-girlfriend, it emerged on Wednesday.
Rudy Guede, 36, was charged with the domestic assault after being released for murdering the 21-year-old British student in town of Perugia.
He had served a 13-year jail term for the murder and sexual assault of Ms Kercher, from Coulsdon, Surrey, in 2007.
She was found in the bedroom of her rented accommodation in the town, partially undressed and with multiple stab wounds. Prosecutors said Ms Kercher’s throat had been slashed and she had been sexually assaulted.
Ms Kercher’s flatmate Amanda Knox and Knox’s then-boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were arrested and later convicted of murder and sexual assault in 2009. They were ultimately acquitted.
Guede, who came to Italy as a child from the Ivory Coast, was originally sentenced to 30 years for her murder but this was eventually reduced to 18 years. He was freed on parole in 2021.
On Wednesday it emerged that Guede had been issued with a restraining order and fitted with an electronic tag after being accused of assaulting an ex-girlfriend, according to Ansa, the national news agency.
A judge in the town of Viterbo, where Guede lives, has told him to wear an electronic tag and stay at least 500 metres away from his former partner.
He is being investigated on charges of personal injury, ill-treatment and violence, Ansa reported.
Guede has consistently denied any involvement in Ms Kercher’s murder.
He claimed he had gone on a date with her, gone to the bathroom and then found her knifed to death in his bedroom.
Responding to the news of Guede’s latest charges, Ms Knox told Ansa: “I’m very sorry for his ex-girlfriend. How frightening.”
Her former co-accused, Mr Sollecito, said: “I don’t follow Guede’s life but in light of what has happened, it seems like he hasn’t changed very much.
“The person that he was before being sent to prison, the person that we found out about from the evidence, sadly that’s been reconfirmed.”
