Amanda Knox arrives home

Amanda Knox is back on American soil for the first time in four years after her acquittal for the murder of Meredith Kercher

Arriving home in Seattle, Amanda Knox gave a brief but emotional press statement thanking everyone who believed in her after the Italian court acquitted her of murdering British student Meredith Kercher.

After four years in an Italian prison, Miss Knox was visibly emotional and shaking as she spoke to supporters at a news conference after landing at Seattle-Tacoma international airport shortly after 5pm local time.

'I'm really overwhelmed right now,' she said. 'I was looking down from the airplane and it seemed like everything wasn't real.

'Thank you to everyone who's believed in me, who's defended me, who's supported my family. My family are the most important thing to me so I just want to go and be with them, so thank you for being there for me.'

Her father Curt later spoke to reporters outside the family home saying his daughter needed space and had not agreed to any media deals.

'She has been in a concrete bunker for four years,' he says. 'The focus simply is Amanda's wellbeing and getting her reassociated with just being a regular person again.'

Yesterday, the Kercher family said they were back to square one and would continue to fight for justice for Meredith, who was found semi-naked with her throat cut in 2007 in the house she shared with Miss Knox in Italy.

The prosecutor, Giuliano Mignini, expressed disbelief that the convictions of both Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito were overturned and has said he will appeal to Italy's highest criminal court after receiving the reasoning behind the acquittals.

'Let's wait and we will see who was right,' he says. 'The first court or the appeal court. This trial was done under unacceptable media pressure.'

CLICK HERE FOR MORE WORLD NEWS