What is next for Amanda Knox? Family visits jail today

The insight into the American student's state of mind was disclosed by her stepmother Cassandra, after Knox was convicted with her boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito at the assizes court in Perugia, Umbria, of murdering Meredith Kercher.

"I spoke to her the day before the verdict and she told me she was confident that she would be cleared," Mrs Knox told the Telegraph. "She was optimistic that she would be coming home with us.

The sentence came after a year-long trial that gripped Italy and drew intense media attention.

The woman's father, Curt Knox, arrived at the Capanne prison accompanied by Amanda's stepmother, her stepsisters Ashley and Delaney, Amanda's sister Deanna Knox, and Amanda's mother Edda Mellas.

A defense lawyer for the convicted American student also visited her.

Luciano Ghirga, who spent an hour with Knox on Saturday morning, said Amanda Knox spent her first night in jail as a convicted woman under strict surveillance, but denied reports that she had been put under suicide watch.

Ghirga said she was "tired and disappointed."

"She's worried for her parents, too, but she is keeping the faith needed for the next steps," the lawyers said.

Knox was sentenced to 26 years in prison for the 2007 murder of Kercher, a 21-year-old student from Leeds University, alongside her ex-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito, who was and given a 25-year jail term. He has been interned in a different facility.

In Italy verdicts can be appealed by either side. Both the Knox family and lawyers for Sollecito have announced an appeal, which could take months to begin.