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Rudy Guede, one of the three people convicted of killing the British student Meredith Kercher, has had his 30-year prison sentence almost halved on appeal.

Guede, 23, from the Ivory Coast, will now serve 16 years for his role in the death after a decision handed down by an Italian court in Perugia, where the murder took place in November 2007. Guede originally pleaded guilty in a fast-track trial but later denied killing Ms Kercher and appealed against his conviction for first-degree murder.

In a separate trial that ended earlier this month, Amanda Knox, the American student who shared a flat with the victim in Perugia, was sentenced to 26 years in jail and her former boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, received 25 years.

Knox and Sollecito are expected to appeal next year against their convictions.

Guede, who was arrested in Germany shortly after the killing, admitted being at the scene of the crime on the night of the murder, but said he did not kill Ms Kercher, who is believed to have died when a drug-fuelled sex game got out of control. He sought a separate trial from Knox and Sollecito because he feared that they might form a pact.

Ms Kercher’s body was found in her bedroom in the cottage she shared with Knox on November 2, 2007. She had been stabbed in the throat. Knox and Sollecito claimed that they had spent the night of the murder at his flat smoking cannabis and watching films.

Earlier today, Valter Biscotti, the defence counsel, likened Guede to Sam Sheppard, the American doctor who was convicted and later acquitted of killing his wife in 1954 and whose case inspired the movie and television series The Fugitive.