Meredith Kercher's death leaves "big hole" in her family

London, December 06 (ANI): The family of the British student, Meredith Kercher, who was murdered in Italy, has said that her death has left a "big hole in their lives".

Meredith's murderers Amanda Knox and Rafaelle Sollecito have been sentenced to prison for 26 and 25 years respectively.

"Meredith still leaves a big hole in our lives and her presence is missed every time we meet up as a family," the News of the World quoted Meredith's brother John as saying at a press conference.

Meredith's sister Stephanie added: "But we are very lucky that we have a lot of memories. She is still very much part of our lives and she always will be."

Her father John said: "Everyone in the room here associates Meredith with a tragic event but we would prefer not to remember her in that way so we would like to concentrate on the 21 years that we did have with her."

Also, mum Arline added: "At the end of the day you have to go on the evidence because there isn't anything else."

Knox had brutally killed Kercher with a knife in November 2007 at a cottage the girls shared in Perugia. (ANI)