Victim's Father Angry That Amanda Knox Is 'Minor Celebrity'

LONDON Dec. 2, 2010— -- Amanda Knox and her parents have come under a scathing attack by John Kercher, who claims that Knox has been turned into a "minor celebrity" despite being convicted of murdering his daughter Meredith Kercher.

The outburst comes as Knox has begun an appeal of her conviction and 26 year prison sentence. The appeal has been accompanied by a series of news stories, book releases and announcements of movie productions focusing on Knox.

John Kercher writes angrily in the British tabloid paper The Daily Mail that ''Amanda Knox was found guilty of killing my daughter Meredith at the house they shared in Italy three years ago. Yet since that act of horrific violence, Knox, it seems, has been accorded the status of a minor celebrity."

''Sometimes it seems that there is no escape from her or her jaunty nickname, 'Foxy Knoxy' (doubly hurtful, for the way it trivialises the awfulness of her offence),'' he wrote.

The Knox family has said the "Foxy Knoxy" nickname came from her skill as a childhood soccer player, but tabloid media have implied it came from her attractive good looks.

Knox, now 23, is due back in court later this month when her appeal begins. Her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito is also appealing his conviction.