A Czech court decided yesterday that none of the three men accused of killing a young Romani woman at the start of the year, did so from racist motives.

A State attorney told journalists on Thursday that there was no proof the woman had been murdered because of her ethnic origins. The killing shook the Romani community in the Czech Republic, because of its brutality.

Investigators said she had been severely beaten and then thrown into a river by three skinheads. The court heard however on Thursday, that the motive had been that the Romani woman allegedly stole 200 crowns from one of the men.