The mother of murdered exchange student Meredith Kercher fought back tears as she told a court she still struggles to come to terms with her daughter's brutal death.
Giving evidence at the trial of the couple accused of the murder, Arline Kercher said she would never get over the killing that took place 18 months ago.
"Her death was unbelievable, unreal - in many ways it still is," Mrs Kercher told the court hearing in Perugia, Italy.
"I still look for her. It's not just her death but it is the nature of it, the brutality of it, the violence of it and the great sorrow it's brought everyone. It is such a shock to send your child to school and for them to not come back. We will never, never get over it."
Mrs Kercher, 63, was giving evidence in a civil case attached to the criminal trial of Amanda Knox, 21, from Seattle, and Italian-born Raffaele Sollecito, 25.
The pair are accused of killing Miss Kercher after she refused to take part in a sex game.
Mrs Kercher and her family are seeking about £20 million in damages in a case which runs alongside the trial.
Her daughter, 21, a Leeds University student from Coulsdon, Surrey, was found dead in her bedroom in the cottage she shared with defendant Amanda Knox and two Italian girls on her year abroad in the Umbrian town.
Her throat had been slit and her semi-naked body was partially covered by a duvet.
Knox and Sollecito, both charged with her murder, have been behind bars for about 18 months. They deny any wrongdoing.
