Meredith Kercher was found dead on 3 November, 2007

The DNA, belonging to Raffaele Sollecito, was reportedly found on part of a bra at the murder scene.

Miss Kercher, 21, of Coulsdon, south London, was found dead in her bedroom in Perugia on 3 November. Three suspects all deny any wrongdoing.

Mr Sollecito has claimed he was at home on the night of the murder.

However, police say the DNA evidence proves he was in Miss Kercher's bedroom before police arrived the following day to find her dead under her duvet, with her throat cut.

Scene of crime

Police say the DNA was found on a piece of her bra - reportedly a fastener - that was cut by the knife and recovered from the floor of the bedroom.

It was found when forensic scientists returned to the murder scene a month after the initial investigation, after noticing the bra was missing its fastener.

Mr Sollecito's American girlfriend Amanda Knox, who was Miss Kercher's flatmate, remains in custody.

Rudy Hermann Guede, an Ivory Coast immigrant with joint Italian nationality, is also in custody.

He has claimed he saw the "real murderer" and may be able to identify him from photographs.

Mr Guede, who was extradited from Germany after fleeing from Italy in the aftermath of the murder, is the only one of the three suspects who admits to being at the house on the evening of the murder.

His DNA has already been found at the scene.

The suspects can all be held for up to a year before trial.

The judge said the next hearing in the case would be on 21 January, when experts would be appointed to examine the hard disks of computers belonging to Miss Kercher, Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito.

So far only Mr Sollecito's computer has been subjected to tests, following his claim that he spent the evening and night of the murder at his flat surfing the net and downloading films.