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Derek Chauvin held his knee on Mr Floyd’s neck for more than nine minutes in a case that reverberated around the world.

Former US police officer Derek Chauvin has been jailed for 22-and-a-half years for murdering George Floyd in Minneapolis last year.

Chauvin, 45, was convicted of second and third degree murder and manslaughter in April over a case that made global headlines and sparked protests.

Video showed the white police officer had his knee on the neck of Mr Floyd, a black man, for more than nine minutes while arresting him on 25 May 2020.

Mr Floyd was being arrested on suspicion of using a fake $20 note but he was handcuffed, restrained, and repeatedly called out “I can’t breathe” before he died.

George Floyd was killed while under arrest in Minneapolis in May
Image:George Floyd called out ‘I can’t breathe’ before he died

The case re-energised the Black Lives Matter movement, with protests across the US and in other countries against racial inequality and police brutality.

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Fewer than a dozen police officers have been sentenced for an on-duty murder in the US in the last 15 years and Chauvin is the first white police officer in Minnesota to be convicted of killing a black man.

Former Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin is shown in a combination of police booking photos after a jury found him guilty on all counts in his trial for second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter in the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S. April 20, 2021. Picture taken April 20, 2021 and released on April 21, 2021. Minnesota Department of Corrections/Handout via REUTERS THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Image:Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd

The three other officers who encountered Mr Floyd that day are facing trial in August.

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They and Chauvin also face federal charges of depriving Mr Floyd of his civil rights and a conviction carries a possible death sentence.

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