Michael was 19 when he decided to use the internet to find his younger sister.

Adopted as a toddler, he was unable to make contact due to his sister's age - she was only 16.
"I took it into my own hands," he says.
"The internet's so wide-ranged now, you can find anybody."
Michael says it took him just five minutes to find her profile page.
Luckily, the approach was not entirely unexpected.
"She messaged me back more or less instantly and said 'I think you're my brother'."
Michael and his sister are among a growing number of adopted children searching for their birth relatives using social networks and the wider internet.
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Michael's story is a positive example - they now meet up regularly. Yet until Michael had contacted her, he had no way of knowing whether his sister even knew she was adopted, let alone that she had a brother.
"This is what worried me at first," says Linda, Michael's adoptive mother.
"What if she didn't know that she was adopted? What if she didn't know that she had a brother? There's so many 'what ifs', it's quite risky really.
"I was in the room while he was on the computer.
"He said 'ah mum, I think I've found her'. I panicked. I said 'Oh Michael, please be very careful what you say'."
It is a trend which is causing great concern among adoption specialists.
So much so, the British Association for Adoption and Fostering met in Cardiff to discuss the issue.
"I think Facebook, and other social networking sites, has the potential to blow adoption out of the water," says Helen Oakwater, an adoption specialist, speaking at the conference.
"The thing that Facebook allows to happen is it allows the birth parents and the child to reconnect at a much earlier age.
"So, a couple of years ago, birth parents might have been able to reconnect when the child is 18, 19, 20... nowadays it's actually happening with children at 13, 14, 15."
This age difference presents a potentially volatile situation as a naturally rebellious adolescent now has the means at their disposal to find and make contact with their birth siblings without the support and guidance which typically runs alongside such life-changing moments.
"Some, within a few months of making contact with their birth families are actually seeing the birth families regularly, and in a number of cases have gone back to live with them," says Helen Oakwater.
"What we're also seeing is that for some of them [it's] already starting to fall apart - because the birth parents haven't changed.
"They're the same birth parents behaving in a similar way to the way they were behaving when the children were removed by the court, and by social workers."
For Lucy - not her real name - finding her grandparents' address on the internet led to an upsetting ordeal with her birth father.
"When I was 14, I used the internet to trace my birth grandparents' address," she recalls.
"I wrote to them, and my birth father rang me a few days later. I was so excited at first, he made himself seem like a lovely father.
"At first it was all 'how are you my darling daughter?', but the next time it would be abuse and foul language.
"He would phone every night when he was drunk and rant at me. My birth father is not a nice guy."
Paul Harrison, from digital firm Carve Consulting, believes that a young person's desire to share themselves openly online cannot be stopped.
"I think for young people that act of sharing - we live in a decade of openness - is almost preconscious, they do it without almost thinking.
"So it's about a) understanding it and b) having, I believe, open, meaningful, honest conversations with the children and talking about what might happen because it probably will."
Ms Oakwater agrees, adding that it's too late to try and stop adopted children from searching for relatives online. Instead, preparations for contact, and education around the emotional impact, should be introduced at an earlier age - pre-empting a child's desire to start searching.
"The genie is out of the bottle. Children are going to go on Facebook.
"We need to empower the child, we need to help the child make sense of their past.
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"They need to understand what really happened to them, so they can look back and get a sense of their early years that's really balanced and they can understand that it's not their fault."
To that end, the BAAF has published a book entitled Facing Up to Facebook, designed to guide worried parents through these difficult stages.
"What you're going to say to a seven-year-old is different to what you'll say to a 14-year-old," continues Ms Oakwater.
"You need external people to help a child work some of that stuff through.
"We have to face up to the intrusion of Facebook and actually get adoption support and therapeutic help in place earlier and longer."


A student described by his parents as "one of the most promising young men of his generation" has died in a fall at a University of Cambridge college.

Thomas Millward, 19, of Cheltenham, was found with head injuries at Girton College on Saturday night.
He died at Addenbrooke's Hospital on Sunday.
Cambridgeshire Police said his death was not being treated as suspicious but a 19-year-old woman had been arrested on suspicion of supplying drugs.
His parents, Brian and Maisa Millward, said he had studied engineering at the university since September.
More on this and other stories from Cambridgeshire
They said he had dreamed of studying at Cambridge and finding a career where he could make a positive difference to the world.
"One of the most promising young men of his generation," they said, in a statement released by police.
"He was an extremely intelligent, talented, handsome and loving boy."
They added: "Gifted both academically and in his sporting abilities, he excelled in everything that he did.
"He was strong and athletic and so much enjoyed his sports, particularly rugby, where he was in his element playing within his team, and his friends."
A university spokesman, speaking on behalf of the college, said: "His death is a great loss to the college community and the college will provide whatever support it can in the days ahead."
Police said the woman had been bailed until later this month.


Police are hunting a man who targeted business banking customers as part of a £60m fraud racket.

Feezan Hameed Choudhary, 24, from the Pollokshields area of Glasgow, is wanted over the alleged scam.
The scammers targeted people by using technology to make the phone number they were calling from seem like a legitimate bank.
Once customers' trust was gained they were duped into revealing account information.
Eleven arrests were made in London and Scotland earlier this week by officers from Falcon, the Met's cyber crime and fraud team.
Choudhary is about 6ft 2in with black hair and brown eyes. He is known to have links to Edinburgh and London.
Police appealed for anyone with information to contact them.
Det Ch Insp Andy Gould, head of Falcon's taskforce, said: "These fraudsters gain the trust of their victims by appearing to call from an official bank phone line.
"They sound professional and ask some subtle questions in order to gain the information they need to access the customer's bank account online.
"This is the largest covert proactive operation we have ever undertaken against cyber-enabled crime."


BBC equestrian commentator Mike Tucker is to retire from broadcasting after next month's Badminton Horse Trials.

The 73-year-old former eventer joined the BBC in 1977 and took over as lead equestrian commentator in 1992.
He voiced landmark moments such as Zara Tindall's 2006 world title, Britain's successes at London 2012, as well as Charlotte Dujardin and Nick Skelton claiming gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
"I've been very privileged and enjoyed some great moments," Tucker said.
He worked for the BBC at six Olympic Games, with London a particular highlight.
"My greatest ambition was to call a British Olympic gold medal and that eventually happened at London 2012, not just once but three times, with team gold in dressage first, followed by the amazing individual gold of Charlotte Dujardin and the great Valegro in dramatic, nailbiting style," he said.
"If that wasn't enough, our showjumpers pulled off the sensational team gold medal in the best sporting atmosphere I've ever witnessed in an equestrian competition. A week never to be forgotten."
Tucker had to control his emotions in Rio when showjumper Nick Skelton finally claimed an individual Olympic title at his seventh Games - aged 58, he was Britain's second oldest Olympic gold medallist.
"That was the most deserved win against so many odds that I have ever witnessed," he said.
"It has to be the most exciting moment I've commentated on in my career - Nick was not the only one in tears.
"That was absolute magic and I have been privileged to enjoy many other pieces of magic for a long time and want to say thank you to everyone who has helped me along the way."
He took over as main commentator following the death of Raymond Brooks-Ward in 1992.
"It was an enormous thrill and honour to follow Raymond as he had been my mentor for many years. He set out to explain the sport, but also make it fun and entertaining - goals that I always tried to emulate," he said.
"It's been great to have been a part of it and I have so many wonderful memories."
BBC director of sport Barbara Slater paid tribute to his work.
"After 40 years with us at the BBC we are sad to say goodbye to Mike. He will be missed by his BBC Sport colleagues and audiences alike," she said.
"Mike's wise words and brilliant critique have been a great addition to our equestrian commentary and we wish him well in his retirement."


TV terror thriller Homeland is to continue for at least three more seasons, it has been announced.

The sixth series will air in January 2017 and will be set in the US after a presidential election.
Seasons seven and eight have also been confirmed, with actress Claire Danes and showrunner Alex Gansa both on board, Deadline reported.
Danes plays a counter-intelligence expert officer in the Showtime drama, which airs on Channel 4 in the UK.
Homeland has won eight Emmy Awards and five Golden Globes since it began in 2011.
Showtime's programming president Gary Levine said: "Homeland was deserving of a multi-year pickup, and that's what Howard [Gordon, executive producer] has achieved with his enthusiasm."
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A Sri Lankan teenager has been arrested for allegedly hacking the website of President Maithripala Sirisena, police say.

The site was hacked on Thursday and Friday by a group calling itself the Sri Lanka Youth.
It demanded that A-level exams due to be held in April be rescheduled because they clashed with Sinhala and Tamil New Year celebrations.
The student, 17, is being questioned to determine any other motives.
A message posted by the group in Sinhala protested about new exam times and called on the president "to take care of the security of Sri Lankan websites or... face a cyber war".
"If you cannot control the situation, hold a presidential election," the message said, along with a call for the president to "stop the prime minister's irresponsible work and look more into the problems of the university students".
It was removed soon after it appeared, the Daily News reported, alongside a message notifying users that the site was temporarily out of service so that it could be maintained.
But soon after it was back in action it was hacked once again, this time with no message.
The BBC's Azzam Ameen in Colombo says that several government websites have recently been hacked and the latest example has prompted people to question why the security of the president's website was so inadequate that it could be overwhelmed by a teenager.
President Sirisena came to power last year.
The presidential website was functioning normally on Monday.


Burnley have signed Chelsea striker Patrick Bamford on a season-long loan.

The 22-year-old has not played a first-team game for Chelsea in his four and a half years with the club following his move from Nottingham Forest.
Bamford has had loan spells with MK Dons, Derby, Middlesbrough, Crystal Palace and Norwich.
Speaking after Saturday's 3-0 Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge, Clarets boss Sean Dyche had said the signing was imminent.


An unannounced inspection of a South Yorkshire prison has led to "serious concerns" over its handling of sex offenders.

HM Inspectorate of Prisons found evidence of bullying at HMP Moorland, and "limited provision for the third of prisoners who were sex offenders".
A report said it had made progress since 2010, when there were riots, but "there remained much to do".
Serco is expected to take over management of the prison this year.
Inspectors said Moorland had faced "considerable change and uncertainty" over the last three years.
In November 2010 parts of the prison were damaged during three days of rioting. The facility was then expanded in 2011, which the report said was "followed by the introduction of over 300 sex offenders and 250 foreign national prisoners".
Moorland is part of a cluster of South Yorkshire prisons - along with Hatfield and Lindholme - due to transfer into the private sector this year.
"With the high number of sex offenders, the lack of any sex offender treatment programmes was a serious concern," the report said.
It added that not enough priority was given to learning, skills and work, while 35-40% of prisoners "were unemployed or failed to attend their place of work or learning".
Chief Inspector of Prisons Nick Hardwick said: "We found that Moorland had made some progress and was dealing with considerable uncertainties. That said, the pace of progress was disappointing and there remained much to do, some of it fundamental.
"The need to deal with these problems, and improve outcomes for prisoners, should not be lost in the transit to the private sector."
Andrew Neilson from the Howard League for Penal Reform said: "Moorland is still a dangerous and intimidating place. Almost a fifth of prisoners feel unsafe and there are high levels of victimisation and bullying.
"Perhaps most concerning is the fact that, although one in three prisoners at Moorland has been convicted of a sexual offence, the prison failed to offer a single course designed to tackle that behaviour."
Moorland Prison is 10 miles from the centre of Doncaster, and is a category C training prison with a capacity for 1,006 inmates, including young offenders.
The inspection was carried out in December.


Lancashire have signed New Zealand seamer Neil Wagner as their overseas player for the 2016 campaign.

Wagner, 29, who has featured in 18 Tests, will predominantly play first-class cricket during his time at Old Trafford.
"Neil is a world-class bowler with a tremendous pedigree," head coach Ashley Giles told the club website.
"Having him available for such an extended period will give our Division One campaign a real boost."
South Africa-born Wagner made his Test debut for the Black Caps against the West Indies in 2012 and has taken 67 Test wickets at an average of 33.34.
He had a stint in England with Northants in 2014 and has taken 431 first-class wickets at an average of 27.20 since making his first-class debut in 2006.
"I have always admired Lancashire, ever since playing in the Liverpool Lancashire league for Ormskirk in 2008," Wagner said.
"I'm very much looking forward to joining up with the squad and working with Ashley and the rest of the team."


A man has been arrested after two men were shot, police have said.

The victims, in their 20s and from Canvey, Essex, are in hospital with injuries to their upper body. They are are not thought to be life-threatening.
Officers were called to a "firearms incident" in Somnes Avenues, Canvey, at about 03:30 BST on Saturday.
The suspect, 22, from the town, is being questioned by police. The scene has been sealed off and inquiries are continuing.
Police are appealing for any witnesses to contact them.


Chris Wood's injury-time overhead kick against Fulham secured Leeds United their first point of the season.

Tom Cairney's curled effort 13 minutes from time looked to have continued Fulham's perfect start to their Championship campaign.
Ex-Leeds striker Matt Smith and forward Sone Aluko both hit the post for the Cottagers in an impressive display.
But the hosts created chances themselves and were rewarded with Wood's spectacular effort.
Wood had earlier sent the ball wide with a header when well-placed at the back post, while Swedish forward Marcus Antonsson also missed two good chances.
However, Fulham created more opportunities throughout the game, with Rob Green forced to save from Floyd Ayite, who also sent a header narrowly wide of goal.
Aluko had an appeal for a penalty turned down shortly before Cairney's opener, as the visitors struggled to turn chances into goals.
But Slavisa Jokanovic's side remain fourth in the table despite being punished for their wastefulness in front of goal by Wood's fine strike, while Leeds climb to 20th in the table.
Leeds United head coach Garry Monk:
"I don't know if delighted is the right word, but I was very pleased for the players and everyone. I was very pleased for Woody. He missed that chance, but he came back and it was good reward for him. It epitomised our spirit.
"There was spirit with them in the changing room and you can see that. Tonight was a really good test for us. We could have easily thought that it wasn't going to be our night.
"I was especially pleased for Chris, he missed an earlier one and could have easily felt sorry for him, frustration was coming his way but his mentality epitomised what the team were doing. I'm very happy for him to score that goal, it'll give him a big boost."
Fulham boss Slavisa Jokanovic:
"[Ryan Sessegnon] is a very good project of the football club, he needs to continue to keep working hard, in this way we have to be careful about him.
"For his debut he offered many, many, many quality things during the game. I don't want to say (he is a) kid, but he is doing work with adult people and I don't find a big difference between them.
"It is a little bit unlucky, we are a little bit frustrated after this late goal. We didn't score more goals at the beginning and during the game and Leeds scored a typical Championship goal, a big centre-half touches the ball and the big striker catches a bicycle kick, which can happen."
Match ends, Leeds United 1, Fulham 1.
Second Half ends, Leeds United 1, Fulham 1.
Goal!  Leeds United 1, Fulham 1. Chris Wood (Leeds United) right footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Kyle Bartley with a headed pass.
Attempt missed. Kalvin Phillips (Leeds United) right footed shot from outside the box misses to the left following a corner.
Corner,  Leeds United. Conceded by Michael Madl.
Offside, Fulham. David Button tries a through ball, but Cauley Woodrow is caught offside.
David Button (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Chris Wood (Leeds United).
Corner,  Leeds United. Conceded by Ryan Tunnicliffe.
Attempt blocked. Hadi Sacko (Leeds United) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Substitution, Fulham. Jozabed replaces Floyd Ayité.
Tom Cairney (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Ronaldo Vieira (Leeds United).
Attempt missed. Chris Wood (Leeds United) header from the left side of the six yard box is just a bit too high. Assisted by Marcus Antonsson with a cross.
Substitution, Fulham. Ryan Tunnicliffe replaces Scott Parker.
Attempt missed. Sone Aluko (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Cauley Woodrow.
Scott Parker (Fulham) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Chris Wood (Leeds United).
Substitution, Leeds United. Hadi Sacko replaces Kemar Roofe.
Goal!  Leeds United 0, Fulham 1. Tom Cairney (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Kevin McDonald.
Attempt blocked. Sone Aluko (Fulham) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Kyle Bartley (Leeds United) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Cauley Woodrow (Fulham) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Kyle Bartley (Leeds United).
Offside, Fulham. Ryan Sessegnon tries a through ball, but Floyd Ayité is caught offside.
Attempt missed. Marcus Antonsson (Leeds United) left footed shot from the right side of the six yard box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Kalvin Phillips with a cross following a corner.
Corner,  Leeds United. Conceded by Tomas Kalas.
Foul by Floyd Ayité (Fulham).
Luke Ayling (Leeds United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Substitution, Leeds United. Alex Mowatt replaces Pablo Hernández.
Attempt missed. Ronaldo Vieira (Leeds United) right footed shot from outside the box is too high. Assisted by Charlie Taylor.
Attempt blocked. Cauley Woodrow (Fulham) left footed shot from the left side of the box is blocked. Assisted by Floyd Ayité.
Denis Odoi (Fulham) wins a free kick on the right wing.
Foul by Kemar Roofe (Leeds United).
Attempt missed. Floyd Ayité (Fulham) left footed shot from the right side of the box misses to the left. Assisted by Cauley Woodrow.
Substitution, Fulham. Cauley Woodrow replaces Matt Smith.
Attempt missed. Ryan Sessegnon (Fulham) left footed shot from the left side of the box misses to the right. Assisted by Scott Parker.
Corner,  Leeds United. Conceded by Scott Parker.
Attempt blocked. Pablo Hernández (Leeds United) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked. Assisted by Marcus Antonsson.
Attempt missed. Kevin McDonald (Fulham) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right. Assisted by Sone Aluko.


Two Police Federation officials should be charged with gross misconduct over their role in the "plebgate" affair, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) has ruled.

Insp Ken Mackaill and Det Sgt Stuart Hinton are accused of giving false accounts of a meeting with then-Chief Whip Andrew Mitchell in 2012.
It followed claims the Tory MP had called police "plebs", which he denied.
A third officer, Sgt Chris Jones, had no case to answer, the IPCC ruled.
The officers met Mr Mitchell in his Sutton Coldfield constituency office in October 2012, following reports he had sworn at officers and called them "plebs" for refusing to let him cycle though the main gate of Downing Street.
Mr Mackaill later told journalists that Mr Mitchell, who subsequently quit the government, had refused to elaborate on what had happened in the street and should resign.
However, the inspector's account was called into question when a recording of the meeting was broadcast by Channel 4's Dispatches programme.
The three officers then faced further criticism over evidence they gave to MPs before the home affairs select committee in October 2013.
In 2014, a High Court judge rejected a libel case brought by Mr Mitchell against The Sun newspaper, concluding that "on the balance of probabilities" he had called a police officer a "pleb".
Mr Mitchell had accepted he used bad language but said he had not used that particular word.
He paid Â£300,000 in legal costs after losing the case.
In a letter to Mr Mitchell, IPCC commissioner Carl Gumsley said: "I have concluded that there is a case to answer for two of the officers involved for gross misconduct."
Mr Gumsley said Mr Hinton's force, Warwickshire Police, had challenged the ruling, arguing for a lesser charge.
But Mr Mackaill's force, West Mercia Police, had accepted the recommendation, despite a previous West Mercia Police-led investigation ruling the men had "no case to answer".
Mr Jones works for West Midlands police.
An IPCC spokesman confirmed the commission had now completed its investigation into the conduct of the three officers concerned.
The Police Federation said it could not comment while the case was still ongoing.
On Monday, lawyers for The Sun told a court that police had violated the human rights of three reporters by accessing their phone records in the fallout from the row.
The Sun alleges police violated the trio's right to protect "confidential sources" but the Met Police deny any wrongdoing.
The hearing is due to conclude on Tuesday.


Canada has settled more than 25,000 refugees, meeting a promise by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, but the rate of acceptance has slowed

I went to Toronto to meet some of these 'New Canadians', as Mr Trudeau calls them, and to speak to the private groups sponsoring these refugees.
Watch more below.


Two court rulings dealt a blow to the US state of Arkansas in its attempt to put to death seven inmates within days.

The first, on Wednesday evening, halted the execution due the following day of Stacey Johnson so he could make fresh DNA claims to prove his innocence.
Moments later, a district judge blocked the use of one of the lethal injection drugs, halting all seven executions.
The pace of executions - originally eight in 11 days - has prompted criticism from rights' groups.
Johnson was convicted of the murder of Carol Heath, who was beaten and had her throat slit in her flat in 1993.
Her two young children were at home at the time.
He was one of two inmates due to be put to death on Thursday, but the Arkansas Supreme Court granted his request for a stay.
Johnson will now have the chance to make his case in a lower court for further DNA testing.
The second ruling, by Pulaski County Circuit Judge Alice Gray, has wider impact because it affects all seven inmates.
She backed a lawsuit by drugs company McKesson, the supplier of the muscle relaxant vecuronium bromide.
The company argued that it had been sold to the prison system on the understanding it would be used solely for medical purposes.
Rights group Repreive lauded the county court's ruling, saying Arkansas obtained the drug through deception.
It said this was the first time in US legal history that a private company had brought direct legal action to prevent the misuse of medicines in executions
In an email to the BBC, the Arkansas attorney general's office said it would appeal against the ruling.
Like many US states, Arkansas has struggled to find the drugs it needs to carry out executions. Its last was in 2005.
Bruce Ward - Strangled teenage shop clerk Rebecca Doss
Don Davis - Condemned for the execution-style killing of Jane Daniel as he burgled her home
Stacey Johnson - Murdered Carol Heath, who was beaten, strangled and had her throat slit
Ledell Lee - Bludgeoned Debra Reese to death with a tyre iron her husband had given her for protection
Jack Jones - Condemned for the rape and murder of accounts clerk Mary Phillips, and the nearly fatal beating of her 11-year-old daughter
Marcel Williams - Raped and murdered Stacey Erickson, after kidnapping her from a convenience store
Kenneth Williams - Murdered farmer Cecil Boren during an escape from prison where Williams had been incarcerated for murdering cheerleader Dominique Hurd


The environment secretary has welcomed plans for EU-wide, random DNA tests to tackle the widening horsemeat scandal.

The move to test processed beef for horsemeat was made at an EU crisis meeting in Brussels.
Owen Paterson said he was "pleased" with the plans, adding it was "wrong" consumers had bought beef products that contained horse.
Horsemeat should also be tested for the drug phenylbutazone, the European Commission said.
Under the plans, testing by the food standards authorities of each member state would begin on 1 March, and continue for three months. However, members should report back after 30 days, the commission said.
The proposals from the meeting - which involved the Irish Republic, France, Romania, Luxembourg, Sweden and Poland - will be put to an emergency meeting of the EU's Standing Committee on the Food Chain and is expected to be endorsed.
"That is why I am leaving for the Hague very shortly - to get to the bottom of an international criminal conspiracy," Mr Paterson told reporters, as he left the meeting.
Mr Paterson had pressed at the meeting for improved DNA testing of processed meat across the EU in the wake of the horsemeat scandal, which began last month.
Simon Coveney, Irish Minister for Agriculture, said after the meeting the issue was of "labelling fraud".
"We have more than enough law and regulations to deal with that fraud when we establish who is responsible for it. But I think consumers will want to see us also prioritising the labelling of processed food," he told a press conference.
He described the meeting as "proactive" and said there was a "sense of urgency" among ministers that they want something "significant done on this quickly".
Earlier, Prime Minister David Cameron promised that those who had passed off horsemeat as beef would be dealt with.
"We've agreed a tougher inspection regime, we've asked hospitals and schools and prisons to check with their suppliers that they are testing their products... if there has been criminal activity then there should be the full intervention of the law," he told MPs during Prime Minister's Questions.
He said there was no evidence products on the shelves of British shops were unsafe to eat.
Meanwhile, Victor Ponta, prime minister of Romania, where two abattoirs are alleged to have sold horsemeat purported to be beef to European food companies, said the scandal was a continent-wide problem.
He told Newsnight : "It's a European crisis because it affects the absolute right of European customers to trust the food, to trust products and know exactly what kind of food it is and where it comes from."
Referring to the allegations, he added: "We have checked all data we had up to now regarding the plants and the way the meat has been processed, and up to now haven't found any irregularities."
The horsemeat scandal began in January when Irish authorities discovered horsemeat in some burgers stocked by a number of UK supermarket chains.
Horsemeat has also been found in branded and supermarket-own ready meals, including lasagne and spaghetti bolognese. Some Findus frozen beef in lasagne, made by a French food processing company, was found to be up to 100% horsemeat.
The FSA has stressed that horsemeat does not pose a health risk to the public, however there have been concerns that if unregulated horsemeat is substituted for beef it could expose people to phenylbutazone (bute), which is not allowed in the UK food chain.
The FSA has ordered food businesses to carry out tests on all processed beef products and the first results are expected on Friday.
On Tuesday night, raids were carried out on two UK meat firms. The FSA suspended operations at both raided premises and seized paperwork.
The raided premises were Peter Boddy Licensed Slaughterhouse, in Todmorden, West Yorkshire, and Farmbox Meats Ltd, of Llandre near Aberystwyth.
Mr Boddy said he was co-operating with the FSA and officials were "welcome to visit" his premises whenever they wanted.
Dafydd Raw Rees, of Farmbox Meats, said the firm was licensed to deal with horses and it had been cutting horsemeat from the Republic of Ireland, for export to Belgium, for the last three weeks.


India's central bank has cut a key interest rate to its lowest level for nearly six years, in an effort to boost the economy.

The bank cut its benchmark repo rate to 6.25% from 6.50%.
This was the first interest rate review under the new governor of the bank, Urjit Patel, who took over last month.
While Mr Patel's predecessor was in sole charge of rate setting, this latest cut was decided by the newly formed monetary policy committee.
The Reserve Bank of India did not say how members of the six-strong committee voted.
Mr Patel replaced Raghuram Rajan, who announced he was stepping down earlier this year.
He is known to take a tough line on inflation, which remains one of the big worries in the Indian economy.
The monetary policy meeting was a much-awaited event for the markets for several reasons.
It was Urjit Patel's maiden press conference after taking charge of India's central bank. And secondly, for the first time a six-member committee decided on interest rates rather than the RBI governor alone. The fact that all of them voted unanimously for a rate cut signals a good start for the new decision-making committee.
Interestingly - more than the rate cut - the bigger surprise of the day was the short duration of the press conference, during which Mr Patel took just five questions. This was a stark change compared with previous governors, who would talk to the press for a much longer period.
Many see this as a signal that he wants to keep a low profile, unlike his predecessor, Raghuram Rajan, who was known for his frank interactions and statements.
Shubhada Rao, chief economist of Yes Bank in Mumbai, said the cut was "along expected lines".
"That dominant pressure on headline inflation, mainly food, has begun to ease rapidly, which paved way for the 25 bps rate cut today."
Abheek Barua, chief economist at HDFC Bank in New Delhi agreed there had been a "window of opportunity" to cut rates.
"The sooner they did it the better. I am happy that they did it," he said.
"In fact, unless the pay commission payouts and HRA (House Rent Allowance) allowances, lead to a pick-up in inflation, I think there's room for another rate cut between now and the end of the year."
Consumer inflation fell to a five-month low of 5.05% in August, against the monetary policy committee's target of between 2% and 6%.
It is expected to keep falling in the coming months, following a good monsoon season which brought down food prices.
The committee has been given the task of "maintaining price stability" while also "keeping in mind the objective of growth".
India is one of the fastest expanding economies in the world, even though growth eased back to an annual pace of 7.1% in the March to June quarter, down from 7.9% in the previous three months.


Ed Balls is a "national treasure" after his performances on Strictly Come Dancing, former Labour leader Ed Miliband has said.

He told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire programme his former shadow chancellor had "got better and better" throughout the competition.
Mr Balls performed a samba inspired by the film The Mask on Saturday.
Despite being the lowest-scoring celebrity, he made it through to next week's show.
Mr Miliband described Mr Balls, who wore a yellow suit and had his face painted green for the routine, as "brilliant", but added that he would not be following his former colleague on to the programme.
"I'm not going to paint my face green anytime soon, but it suits him," he told Victoria Derbyshire.
On Sunday, EastEnders actress Tameka Empson and her partner Gorka Marquez became the second couple to leave Strictly.
Mr Balls, who lost his parliamentary seat in last year's general election, uttered several catchphrases from The Mask, a 1994 comedy film starring Jim Carrey, before and after his performance. These included the exclamations "Smokin'" and "Somebody stop me".
The judges awarded him and professional partner Katya Jones 25 points for their performance, the lowest mark of the 14 couples, but the public voted for them in sufficient numbers to ensure they avoided the dance-off.
Head judge Len Goodman told him: "You're not the best dancer, but you're definitely the most fun."
Conservative former cabinet ministers George Osborne and Michael Gove have both pledged their support for Mr Balls, who was watched during his performance by his wife, the Labour MP Yvette Cooper.
She described his costume as "startling" and, after his routine, wrote on Twitter that she was "still recovering".
The Victoria Derbyshire programme is broadcast on weekdays between 09:00 and 11:00 on BBC Two and the BBC News channel.


Customers at Royal Bank of Scotland and NatWest may soon be sorting out issues with help from a virtual chatbot.

Web-based Luvo will be able to answer simple queries such as how to order a replacement card.
Designed using IBM Watson technology, the virtual agent is able to understand and learn from human interactions.
In future, Luvo may be able to understand if a customer was feeling frustrated or unhappy and change its tone and actions accordingly, IBM said.
The service will initially be rolled out to RBS and NatWest customers, starting in December with about 10% of RBS customers in Scotland.
Previously, Luvo had been piloted among 1,200 RBS and NatWest staff.
For the bank, the chatbot is complementary to existing customer service agents.
"Luvo frees advisers from spending time on simple, easily-addressed queries so they can help customers with more complex issues," said Jane Howard, head of personal banking.
It will start off with about 10 questions it is equipped to answer but as the cognitive system learns over time, IBM is confident it can be expanded to "more complex areas".
The bank will make it clear to customers that they are talking to a bot, and they will have the option to move the conversation to a human agent at any point.
"We will monitor customer feedback and, if we find that customers are getting frustrated, we will quickly look to address that," Ms Howard told the BBC.
IBM is not the only company using artificial intelligence in banking. This week, rival IPsoft, which already employs its virtual agent Amelia in a range of industries, announced a similar deal.
Amelia will provide customer service in one of Sweden's largest banks, SEB.
Chetan Dube, IPsoft's chief executive, said that virtual staff represented a "fundamental shift in the way that banks manage their operations".
"Virtual agents never deviate from regulations and provide a full audit trail of every interaction," he said.


US actor Harrison Ford has made his first public appearance since he was injured in a plane crash in March.

The 72-year-old took to the stage on a Star Wars panel at the San Diego Comic-Con in front of thousands of fans.
"I'm fine," Ford reportedly said. "I walked here so how bad can it be?"
Ford, who suffered a broken ankle and pelvis when he crashed his small plane on to a golf course, appeared alongside original Star Wars trilogy cast members, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.
The trio who played Han Solo, Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia in the sci-fi saga reprise their roles in the next instalment, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens.
"It should have felt ridiculous," Ford said about stepping back on to a Star Wars set after such a long period.
"It was 30 plus years ago, and I sort of grew up. Yet here I was. I will tell you that it felt great."
Some fans had queued for days for a seat at the Star Wars event. The panel also included The Force Awakens director J J Abrams, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, and the film's co-writer Lawrence Kasdan.
The film's two young British stars, Daisy Ridley who plays Rey and John Boyega who plays Finn, also took to the stage.
As well as being given the chance to ask questions, the audience was also the first to see a three-minute behind the scenes video. The clip showed scenes being shot abroad and at Pinewood studios in Buckinghamshire.
The Force Awakens is set for release on 18 December and is the first in a new series of the sci-fi franchise.


Riots have hit a small town in South Africa after a magistrate granted bail to two white farmers accused of murdering a 16-year-old black boy.

Anger erupted in the maize producing town of Coligny, after residents learned that the two suspects had been freed on Monday.
Three houses were torched and white-owned shops looted.
The violence over the death highlights prevailing racial tensions in parts of post-apartheid South Africa.
Apartheid was a legal system of discrimination that existed in South Africa until the country's first democratic elections in 1994.
Pieter Doorewaad and Phillip Schutte allegedly assaulted Matlhomola Moshoeu and then threw him out of a moving car.
Local media report that the two farmers caught Mr Moshoeu stealing sunflowers on a farm near to the township where he lived, took him hostage and assaulted him.
They, however, say he jumped off a truck as they were taking him to the police.
Magistrate Magaola Foso told the court that he was aware that the case had led to increased tensions in the area, but said he could not have an emotional response, the AFP news agency reports.
"There is no link between the said witness evidence and the two [accused] persons at this stage," AFP quotes the magistrate as saying.
The teenager's cause of death is not yet known because the results of his autopsy report have not been handed over to the court.
Journalists who were covering the violence were allegedly attacked by the owners of properties targeted by the rioters. They were accused of inciting violence by covering the events.
Meanwhile farmers in the area are said to be on high alert, worried that they might become the next target as tensions continue. The police say they are monitoring the situation.
The two men are due back in court on 26 June.


An 81-year-old man has been hit by a car and killed while walking his dog.

It happened on Castle Street in Norham near Berwick, Northumberland just before 08:00 BST.
The air ambulance and paramedics were called but the man died at the scene.
Northumbria Police are asking anyone who saw the crash or the man walking his dog to contact them. The road was temporarily closed but has since reopened.


Kenyan fighter jets have bombed positions of militant Islamist group al-Shabab in neighbouring Somalia, a military spokesman has told the BBC.

The warplanes had targeted two camps in the Gedo region, used by al-Shabab to cross into Kenya, the spokesman added.
This is Kenya's first response to the al-Shabab assault which left 148 people dead at Garissa University last week.
President Uhuru Kenyatta had vowed to respond to the attack "in the severest way possible".
Kenyan army spokesman David Obonyo told the BBC that the military had responded to "threats" by launching the air strikes on Sunday night in the remote region.
Two camps had been destroyed, he said, adding: "The bombings are part of the continued process and engagement against al-Shabab, which will go on."
But an eyewitness, speaking to BBC Somali, said the attack had wounded three civilians, and destroyed livestock and wells in an area without an al-Shabab presence.
The attack on Garissa University, about 150km (90 miles) from the Somali border, was the deadliest by al-Shabab in Kenya.
The al-Qaeda affiliate says it is at war with Kenya, and wants it to withdraw troops sent to Somalia in 2011 to help the weak government in Mogadishu fight the militants.
This is the latest in a series of air strikes that Kenya's military has carried out in Somalia. Often, they are accompanied by reports of civilian casualties - in this instance,  a mother and her two children were wounded, an eyewitness says.
Many people in Somalia believe the air assault is merely aimed at showing Kenyans that the government is responding to the threat posed by al-Shabab.
They point out there was a similar  strike after al-Shabab killed 36 quarry workers in Kenya's north-eastern Mandera region in December. Then, too, there were reports of civilian casualties, while Kenya failed to provide any proof of al-Shabab being hit.
This is in contrast to US air strikes in Somalia, which led to the killing of al-Shabab fighters and leaders.
Governors and MPs from north-eastern Kenya have called for the closure of the Dadaab refugee camp, where about 500,000 people who fled conflict in Somalia are taking shelter.
They told a news conference in the capital, Nairobi, that the camp was used by al-Shabab as a training and coordination centre.
Aid agencies have rejected previous calls for the closure of Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in Africa.
An MP in Garissa, Aden Duale, said Kenya should "engage" with the international community to step up patrols along its long and porous border with Somalia.
Meanwhile, Kenya's government has denied accusations that its security forces were slow to respond to Thursday's assault on the university.
Mr Kenyatta's spokesman Manoah Espisu told the BBC that the military was at the scene within minutes of the attack, and had helped save the lives of many students on campus.
Local media reported that it took special forces several hours to arrive at the university because of delays in their flight from Nairobi.
The attack ended when the four militants were killed by police more than 15 hours after they stormed the university.
One of the gunmen has been named as Abdirahim Abdullahi, a law student who graduated from Nairobi University in 2013.
His father is a local chief, and had reported his son missing, according to local media.
A former fellow student of Abdullahi told BBC Newsday that he had been a "charming fellow" who did not show any sign of holding militant views at university.
"He was very intelligent... I was very shocked that a person I sat with in class - what would drive someone to change so much?" said the former student, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals.
Garissa university campus
1. Militants enter the university grounds, two guards are shot dead
2. Shooting begins within the campus
3. Students attacked in their classrooms while preparing for exams
4. Gunmen believed isolated in the female dormitories
5. Some students make an escape through the fence
Kenya's stoic survivors defy al-Shabab
Who are the victims?
Survivors 'were too scared to scream'
Why is al-Shabab targeting Kenya?


There was disquiet across the land: a British team, winning Olympic gold, with more than half its members having grown up thousands of miles away.

Media playback is not supported on this device
The year? 1936. And while the story of GB's successful ice hockey team at those Winter Olympics - with nine of its 13-strong squad living in Canada, speaking with Canadian accents and having no memory whatsoever of Britain - has long been forgotten, the contentious issue of national identity in the country's sporting teams skates on.
Athletics:
Mo Farah (Mogadishu, Somalia), Tiffany Porter (Michigan, USA), Yamilé Aldama (Havana, Cuba)
Basketball:
Luol Deng (Wau, Sudan)
Cricket:
Jonathan Trott (Cape Town, South Africa), Kevin Pietersen (above - Pietermaritzburg, South Africa)
Cycling:
Chris Froome (Nairobi, Kenya), Sir Bradley Wiggins (Ghent, Belgium)
Football:
Raheem Sterling (Kingston, Jamaica), Wilfried Zaha (Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
Golf:
Justin Rose (Johannesburg, South Africa)
Rugby Union:
Brad Barritt (Durban, South Africa), Dylan Hartley (Rotorua, New Zealand), Manu Tuilagi (Fogapoa, Samoa), Mako Vunipola (Wellington, New Zealand)
Tennis:
Laura Robson (Melbourne, Australia)
Wrestling:
Olga Butkevych (Zaporizhia, Ukraine)
Much of the debate is complicated, either by emotion or instinct, but there is one thing we can say with certainty: British teams have never, despite what the dewy-eyed and dogmatic would like to think, been the exclusive province of those born in Britain.
A lamentable dilution of the national cause? Bearing in mind the birthplaces of such quintessentially English sporting heroes as Colin Cowdrey (Bangalore, India), Ted Dexter (Milan, Italy) and Bradley Wiggins (Ghent, Belgium), probably not. The first man to win a medal for Great Britain at a modern Olympics, way back in 1896, was Charles Gmelin, born in Krishnagar, India.
Before we start battling through the politics and prejudices of who should be allowed to wear a national jersey, a little more on who legally can.
If you hold a British passport, regardless of where you were born, you are eligible. So Tour de France winner Chris Froome (born in Kenya, schooled in South Africa, with a father and grandparents all born in Britain) rides for Great Britain, with considerable pride.
The same applies to those born and raised overseas, only to subsequently move to the UK, with a British parent, as a child. Which is why Andrew Strauss (born in South Africa, moved to Australia aged six, arrived in southern England before his eighth birthday) could captain England's cricket team, why distance runner Mo Farah (born in Somalia, moved to Britain aged eight to live with his British-born father Mukhtar) wins Olympic and world doubles for Britain, why US Open golf champion Justin Rose (another born in South Africa, who moved to Hampshire aged five) is British not South African.
Having an English, or Scottish, or Welsh, parent or grandparent is enough for both football and rugby's governing bodies, regardless of which passport the player themselves might hold. Of those who immigrate as adults, footballers become eligible for their adopted nation only after five years of continuous residency. The IRB, rugby's governing body, stipulates a residency of just 36 months; the English and Wales Cricket Board seven years.
It's this last category that fires the most argument. Residency might legally qualify you to play for England, or Scotland, or Team GB. But what of hearts and minds? What makes someone British enough to deserve to wear the shirt or parade the flag?
Which is where the problems multiply.
Identity is a complex, often illogical sense, rather than a simple set of universal rules. If each of us were asked to define Britishness, we'd come up with 60 million nuanced versions.
It can't be purely political, or else we would have had one-party rule for the past century. It can't be a single language, or else you could count out large chunks of Wales. Cultural? Nine million people watched Downton Abbey last weekend. Millions more have never seen a single episode.
Often our feelings about a stranger's national identity are based entirely on ourselves. Is that person like me, or people that I know? Do I recognise their version of my country?
Perceptions of patriotism can be shaped by as little as accent, as much as logic. Tiffany Porter, 100m hurdles bronze medallist at this year's World Championships in Moscow, has held dual UK and US citizenship since birth. But her unmistakable American drawl has arguably made her harder for some athletics aficionados to accept, just as some boxing fans never forgave undisputed heavyweight champion Lennox Lewis (born in West Ham, raised in London) his Canadian inflection.
Lewis provides an apposite example of how many modern Britons escape neat definition. His parents were Jamaican. Having come to east London as immigrants themselves, they moved the family to Ontario when he was 12.
Lewis subsequently won both the world amateur junior title and an Olympic heavyweight gold for Canada, enough for some British fans to consider his colours forever nailed to the maple. But he says he always felt British, not least for the playground beatings his Cockney accent elicited when he first arrived in his new home, and he returned to the country of his birth as soon as he turned pro.
Then there is the charged effect of ethnicity and religion. England wicketkeeper Matt Prior, born in Johannesburg to a South African mother and English father, moved to Sussex aged 11 - three years older than Farah was when he arrived in Hounslow.
But it is under articles on the black, Muslim Farah that the comments sections are often dominated by unpleasant rows about his supposed Britishness, not those on Prior.
This is not Prior's fault. But neither is it Farah's. He provided the perfect summation of his own identity in the moments after his 5,000m triumph at London 2012.
"This is where I grew up, this is where I started life. This is my country, and when I put on my Great Britain vest I'm proud. I'm very proud."
Why the distrust of some immigrants in a national shirt? It is sometimes as if a sportsman not born in Britain must somehow care less about the nation's fortunes, or at least care for reasons we don't personally recognise, even though the shining example of NBA star Luol Deng (born in Sudan, granted political asylum with his family and subsequently raised in Brixton) shows often it is the refugee - with the most to lose, and the most to be thankful for - who cares the most.
Why the distrust, in particular, of those who have arrived as adults?
"He's only doing it for the money," comes one complaint. That this motive should be considered detrimental in sport, when it is positively lauded in other careers that immigrants may adopt, says as much about our own attachment to the outdated amateur ideals of long ago as it does about the athlete.
It assumes someone who has come to Britain solely to play sport will somehow try a little less hard than someone born on these shores, even when the motivation of someone who has given up their life elsewhere to gamble all on a new existence could surely seldom be greater.
There is the accusation of opportunism, as if ambition were bad for a sportsman, and as if opportunism wasn't exactly the sort of talent often lauded in the arena.
Opportunism also runs both ways. Sporting governing bodies, particularly before the London Olympics, searched near and far for eligible talent, homegrown or otherwise. As a nation we wanted medals. As a nation we celebrated together when they came. So aren't we all complicit in the process, even if some might find it unsavoury?
For all the kissing of badges and draping of flags, commitment to the national cause is a nebulous thing. Who has contributed more to the country, the sports star born overseas who then helps take their adopted team to the top of the world rankings, or the British-born hero who becomes a tax exile in Monaco to protect their earnings from being ploughed back into the society that nurtured them?
Cricketer Kevin Pietersen came to Nottingham from Natal aged 20 - opportunistically, many would say, because he thought the quota system in the country of his birth would hold back his sporting ambitions.
Next month in Brisbane, Pietersen should make his 100th Test appearance for England - more than Wally Hammond, more than Len Hutton, more than Peter May or Ken Barrington. He has scored more runs across all forms of the international game than any other England player.
Little could indicate greater commitment to the cause. But when Pietersen fails to contribute with bat, or falls out with his team-mates, it is his nationality and that switch that crop up in analysis again and again. Even approaching his Test landmark there is the sense he is appreciated rather than loved by England supporters.
Where, too, to draw impenetrable national borders?
Sporting success is only partly down to the raw abilities of players and athletes. The quality of coaching they receive can be transformative, which is why German-born Jurgen Grobler is held in such high esteem by the 11 British rowers he has taken to Olympic gold (many of them, as with Sir Steve Redgrave and Sir Matthew Pinsent, multiple times).
Just because Sven-Goran Eriksson and Fabio Capello failed with England's football team does not mean British sport - and thus national pride, and our collective identity - has not been well served.
To keep British teams for the British would also exclude Zimbabweans Duncan Fletcher and Andy Flower, who together did so much to take England's cricket team from a ranking above only Bangladesh to number one in the world; would mean Olympic long jump champion Greg Rutherford and Paralympic 100m gold medallist Jonnie Peacock could never have worked with their brilliant American former coach Dan Pfaff and denied six-time Olympic gold medallist Sir Chris Hoy the vital input of German Jan van Eijden and Australian Shane Sutton.
Sport reflects the wider world around it. People move, more than ever before - for love, for work, out of choice, out of desperation.
The old world, encapsulated by some in the image of blood-soaked patriot Terry Butcher ignoring intense pain and stern medical advice to see England into the World Cup finals of 1990, is gone, even if it ever truly existed.
Butcher's birthplace? Singapore.
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After her European record haul in Switzerland last weekend, Scottish wheelchair racer Sammi Kinghorn now has the Rio Paralympics firmly in her sights.

The 20-year-old set four European marks at the IPC Grand Prix event, including breaking two records which were held by 11-time Paralympic gold medallist Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson.
"Tanni is the greatest role model in Para-sport, and is the one who people know, so to break her records is special," Kinghorn told BBC Sport.
"I've known her since I started wheelchair racing. The records have always been there and I've always wanted to get them but I never thought it would be this quick."
Kinghorn started wheelchair racing in 2012, less than two years after being left paralysed following an accident on her family's farm where she was crushed by a beam on a forklift driven by her father.
But she admits her performances across the four days of competition were a surprise, having missed her first couple of competitions of the year after being hospitalised with blood poisoning in her elbow.
"I was hoping to get some personal bests but I didn't think I would do that well," she says.  "I had a good winter's training so maybe I just needed a bit of rest.
"It is a worry when things like that happen because you want to wrap yourself in cotton wool, but I can't help things like that, so as long as I can look after parts of my body like my shoulder and wrist, then you just have to hope for the best."
Kinghorn clocked 29.48 seconds for the T53 200m, beating Grey-Thompson's record of 29.66 which had stood since 2004, and 55.27secs for the 400m, surpassing the 56.28 from 2003 and also set new bests in the 100m (16.62) and 800m (1:53.40).
And Grey-Thompson showed her appreciation for the efforts of the Scot, who will find out in mid-July whether she has made the GB team for Rio where she would compete in the 100m, 400m and 800m.
"She tweeted me congratulations which was really nice," said Kinghorn, who travels on Tuesday to the USA for two more competitions next weekend before going back into hard training to peak again in Rio. "You don't want people to break your records but you want the sport to move on.
"I think the 400m is my best event - I enjoy it more. I tend to panic in the 100m because I get nervous at the start and if you muck up the start that's it, whereas in the 400m you get to relax, look around, see who is in front and chase them. It is the one I am ranked highest in.
"I've no idea what I can achieve in Rio. It will be my first Paralympics so top six in the world would be great but it is exciting for me to know I'm up there and racing against the best in the world."


A woman cleared of murdering her friend's boyfriend has said the director of public prosecutions Alison Saunders must rethink her position for having ordered her retrial.

Stacey Hyde had spent five years in prison for stabbing Vincent Francis in 2009 when her murder conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal in 2014.
Ms Saunders then ordered a retrial for murder, in which Ms Hyde was acquitted.
The Crown Prosecution Service said it "respected the jury's decision".
The jury in the retrial accepted that Ms Hyde had killed Mr Francis in September 2009 in self-defence and in fear for her life.
Ms Hyde was first convicted of murder in 2010 at Bristol Crown Court, and given a life sentence with a minimum term of nine years.
Ms Hyde, 23, from Wells in Somerset, told the Victoria Derbyshire programme that Ms Saunders' decision to order a retrial for murder in November 2014 had made her "lose faith" in the justice system.
Ms Saunders had rejected the offer from Ms Hyde's lawyers of a guilty plea for manslaughter.
Ms Hyde said she would have "given up" had it not been for the support of her family, and friends in prison.
She said her original trial was "brutal and humiliating" and she had not wanted to go through a similar experience again.
"I thought, 'I can't do another trial for someone to turn round and give me murder again because I didn't have faith in the justice system'," she said.
The retrial took place at Winchester Crown Court in May 2015, during which her defence argued she had suffered from emerging borderline personality disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), which can lead to a failure of impulse control.
She was acquitted unanimously by the jury who heard she had acted in self-defence.
In a statement, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) defended its decision to order a retrial: "The evidence was reconsidered by the CPS and a decision was made that under the code for Crown Prosecutors a prosecution for murder was still appropriate.
"The matter was once more tried before a jury who has acquitted Ms Hyde of the offence. We respect the jury's decision in this case," it added.
Ms Hyde said the acquittal had given her a "second chance at life", and defended the jury's judgement that the killing of Mr Francis was made out of self-defence, given that she had stabbed him 17 times.
"It is self-defence because he strangled me, beat me, came at me with a knife. He threw me against walls, pulled out my hair. I imagine that's all I could have done," she said.
"It was from a struggle, which people don't realise. I [was] crying for help."
But, she added, she has found it difficult to come to terms with the killing of Mr Francis.
"It's the worst feeling in the world, it stays with you every single day... There was a very long time when I wished I'd just let him kill me.
"I pray for [the family] and I pray for Vince [Mr Francis]. I pray that he forgives me and I tell him that I forgive him," she said.
Watch  Victoria Derbyshire on weekdays from 09:15-11:00 BST on BBC Two and BBC News Channel. Follow the programme on Facebook and Twitter, and find all our content online.


Lorraine Hansberry is famous for writing a classic piece of modern American drama - A Raisin in the Sun - but she wrote more radical plays too, and London's National Theatre in London is reviving her unfinished, ambitious drama about African politics.

Her biographer says the writing of  Hansberry, who died young in 1965, has plenty of relevance today - including the National's Les Blancs (The Whites), about racial tensions in Africa just as the underpinnings of colonialism are starting to shift.
When A Raisin in the Sun opened at the Ethel Barrymore theatre in New York in March 1959 it boasted two firsts.
It was the first Broadway drama ever directed by an African American - Lloyd Richards - and it was the first written by a black woman.
That the playwright Hansberry was just 28 made the achievement all the more extraordinary.
The play ran more than a year. It made Hansberry well known and also gave Sidney Poitier his first starring role on Broadway.
Two years later it was filmed, again with Poitier as the son who loses a financial legacy after his father's death.
But the play is deeply political: the family can recover their financial loss if they accept money not to move to a white neighbourhood of Chicago.
Six years after the debut of A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry died of cancer at the age of 34.
But she left behind several works, some incomplete. One of these is Les Blancs (The Whites), now playing at the Olivier Theatre and directed by the South African Yael Farber.
"A Raisin is now part of the classic canon of American drama.  But Lorraine thought Les Blancs was her most important work," Farber says.
"The work of completing it was done by her husband Robert Nemiroff.  But Lorraine never saw the work performed, which is what every writer needs.  So we've worked further on the dramaturgy for this production."
Hansberry and Nemiroff had married in 1953 but later separated.
Les Blancs has at its centre the return from London of Tshembe Matoseh, played by Danny Sapani, to his home village in an unnamed African country.
The character is in debate with a visiting white American journalist, played by Elliot Cowan, and European residents such as Madame Neilsen (Sian Phillips).
Farber says playgoers who only know A Raisin in the Sun may be surprised.
"In Les Blancs she was working towards a radical new form as well as moving into more radical politics. It's a detailed, dialogue-specific text but it's also a long way from naturalism," she says.
"My work as a director tends to be very physical so I hope we use that to bring all her ideas together."
The production's set, lighting design, and even the aromas drifting from the stage evoke Africa superbly.
In California, Margaret Wilkerson is currently completing the full-length biography which Hansberry enthusiasts have waited for.
Prof Wilkerson says writing the book has convinced her that the playwright is as relevant as ever.
'I'm old enough to have lived through the 60s, and more and more I feel America is back in those years," she said.
"When you woke up then you didn't know what would have happened in terms of protestors and so many issues around race.
"That's a lot of what Lorraine was writing about, even though Les Blancs is set in Africa. Now with the Black Lives Matter movement I sometimes feel we're back asking the same questions and looking at the same social problems."
Prof Wilkerson continued: "Lorraine died before she could contribute to black consciousness in the way she surely would have.  I've been studying her for years but it's only finally writing the new book I've realised how extraordinary she was at the beginning of the 1960s.
"It's not just about the lives of African Americans: she was strongly concerned with changing the role of women as well.
"She was a cultural and political activist of a type which perhaps became more familiar later.  The medium she used to communicate in her short life was basically writing.  It would have been fascinating to see what might have followed if she hadn't died in 1965."
After the success of A Raisin in the Sun, Hansberry was invited to speak on TV and radio, with journalists seeking her out.
"Organisations wanted her for speaking engagements and she was excited to get a lot of mail from the public," said Prof Wilkerson. "What she wanted was to get her voice out and she had much more still to say.
"Her second play on Broadway isn't remembered today - but The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window has mainly white characters. She was addressing the big audience, not a part of it."
Les Blancs finally appeared briefly on Broadway in 1970, with James Earl Jones as Tshembe.
Prof Wilkerson is delighted to see it getting a new production in London.  She acknowledges it may challenge audiences more than A Raisin in the Sun.
"Lorraine thought of theatre as a way to get people to encounter difficult ideas they were not inclined to think about," she said. "She thought her job as a playwright was to make those ideas in a palatable form which engaged people's interest.
"I worry sometimes when people say she was a political playwright.  In America especially that can be a way of marginalising a writer, suggesting they're just writing propaganda.
"Lorraine wrote about the human condition and about human society with all its failings. And that's exactly what Shakespeare was writing about."
Prof Wilkerson recalls that at the time Hansberry was writing, black America took little interest in the politics of Africa.
"As an African American, I know we had fights of our own in the USA.  But Lorraine Hansberry thought big: she wanted audiences to think more about Africa's situation.  She always was a pioneer and, had she lived, the woman's movement would have meant so much to her."
Farber hopes her new production will awaken audiences to the scale of Hansberry's talent and ambition.
"A Raisin in the Sun is essentially a living-room drama, for all its strengths.  But Les Blancs is on the Greek scale.  I don't think anyone else has attempted to create on stage a whole narrative of what occurred on a continent in which various cultures jack-booted through, taking whatever they pleased."


The strikes and protests over labour law reforms dominate all the front pages of French newspapers today, and there is little optimism on left or right that an end to the crisis is near.

Newspapers have reappeared after the CGT union stopped the presses of all but the pro-communist L'Humanite yesterday, when they refused to run an opinion piece by CGT leader Philippe Martinez.
France's best-selling daily, Ouest-France, asks: "What is the answer, after eight days of protests?".
Like many papers, it sees the government and unions locked in an "arm-wrestling match", with few signs of avoiding the "great day of national protest in Paris on 14 June", the day after the bill goes before the Senate.
The headline in left-leaning Le Monde says the government is "seeking a way out of the Labour Law crisis".
It runs articles for and against the strikes on its opinion pages, with sociologist Daniele Linhart seeing the strikes as a "rejection of the managerial concept of labour... that depresses wages".
On the other hand, Raymond Soubie, an aide to conservative former President Nicolas Sarkozy, says the strike is no more than "weak social agitation", accusing the CGT union of "concentrating its action in sectors where it is strong, to give the illusion of breadth".
Le Monde's reporter Jean-Baptiste de Montvalon thinks the government has already lost the battle for public opinion, marshalling the results of several polls suggesting that a clear majority of voters blame the government for provoking the strike.
He acknowledges that low rates of union membership have left the CGT weak, but the government's "record unpopularity and divisions", and the way it has handled the labour law, leave it "little hope for recovery".
The conservative daily Le Figaro highlights "anxiety" in the governing Socialist Party over Prime Minister Manuel Valls' "intransigence"
Its front-page editorial criticises a "two-speed France" where public-sector workers lag far behind private employees in their number of working hours. It says the latest report on the topic, commissioned by the prime minister, "has joined the vast graveyard of reports on this waste of public money".
Le Figaro, like many other papers, asks whether the country will run out of petrol this weekend as the unions "seek to widen their action".
Pro-communist L'Humanite says it is "naturally on the side of the opponents of the Labour Law...in solidarity with the workers against the arrogance of the powerful".
It is confident that the strikes will succeed, as the "union front has split the governing clan".
Left-wing Liberation's arresting front page sees protests "continuing unabated" and, like many papers, asks "Where's the way out?".
It portrays a "government tying itself in knots" through the "president's indecision and the double talk of his colleagues", which sends out an "unclear message" as to whether they want to stand firm or compromise with the strikers.
Liberation's editorial fears that the standoff could derail the provisions of the law that are set to improve employees' rights. "We need to remember that the other major union, the CFDT, wants these measures passed quickly, in case a right-wing government takes over from Manuel Valls next year".
It calls for talks to resume "not on the pavement after a protest, but in the appropriate place for drafting laws - parliament".
BBC Monitoring reports and analyses news from TV, radio, web and print media around the world. You can follow BBC Monitoring on Twitter and Facebook.


Brian Wilson, the creative genius behind The Beach Boys, has confirmed he is working on a new album.

He said his next project would be an album of of rock'n'roll classics, but he did not rule out contributing his own material.
Speaking ahead of the publication of his memoir, I Am Brian Wilson, he said: "I can write rock'n'roll."
He said he did not know when the album would be released, but added: "Maybe by the end of the year."
As part of a wide ranging interview, Wilson, who is responsible for classics including Good Vibrations and God Only Knows, also talked about his struggles with depression and drug addiction.
At the age of 22 he had his first breakdown. He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme it was important to be honest in the book about the mental illness he has suffered since then.
"I didn't want people to think I was a liar. I wanted people to know that I told the truth," he said.
"My biggest regret was taking psychedelic drugs because it screwed my brain up."
After taking LSD for the first time in his 20s, Wilson started hearing noises in his head. And he still hears them "every day".
He says they sometimes "threaten" to kill him.
When I ask him how he gets rid of them, he said: "I yell. I say stop it - and like that they stop."
But in the old days, at the height of The Beach Boys fame, those voices were harder to silence. One reason, Wilson says, why he never felt comfortable playing live with the band.
In the book he admits performing frightened him.
"It just makes me feel a little bit nervous to go on stage and have all those people cheering at you."
He said he was worried he might disappoint people or that he "might sing off key."
He stopped touring with The Beach Boys after suffering a panic attack on a plane to Houston in 1964. Since the late 1990s however he has been performing live again, with concerts taking place around the world.
When I ask him why, his answer is revealing: "Well there's nothing else to do with my time so I decided just to stay on the road and just keep plugging away."
He insists no one is forcing him and that he does not need the money.
Wilson added "it was not that easy" working on the memoir with a ghost writer for a year, revisiting the highs and lows of his extraordinary life.
Nonetheless, he "wanted people to know my life story, what I went through, what I learned what I sang and produced".
With hits of the early 1960s about cars, girls and surfing, Wilson created the soundtrack to the Californian dream.
He went on to see how far he could push the limits of the way pop music should sound with albums such as Pet Sounds and Smile.
Wilson says it is not for any of those songs that he would like to be remembered. Instead it is "as a good singer". At this point, aged 74, he thinks he is only "about average".
His fans will be able to judge for themselves when his new album is released.
Follow us on Twitter @BBCNewsEnts, on Instagram, or if you have a story suggestion email entertainment.news@bbc.co.uk.


Summer signing Lewis Alessandra scored his first goal for Notts County to seal a dramatic win against Wycombe at Adams Park.

Captain Richard Duffy opened the scoring for the Magpies on his 50th appearance for the club, heading home from Dan Jones' free-kick on 14 minutes.
The visitors promptly doubled their advantage in comical fashion, as Luke O'Nien's clearance hit Wycombe captain Adam El-Abd and cannoned past goalkeeper Scott Brown.
Kevin Nolan's side had earlier threatened through Shaun Brisley, whose far-post header was cleared off the line by Michael Harriman.
Gareth Ainsworth's side pulled themselves back into the game in sensational style, however, as half-time substitute Nick Freeman scored his first league goal for Wanderers with a powerful half-volley into the top corner four minutes after coming on.
Debutant Craig Mackail-Smith headed straight at Adam Collin from Harriman's cross, before Joe Jacobson sensationally curled home a free-kick from 25-yards to level the scores.
County, unbeaten at Adams Park since October 2007, retook the lead when Jonathan Forte headed home six yards out from another Jones free-kick for his first goal since 28 January.
And former Hartlepool man Alessandra sealed the victory when he fired home in the 90th minute after Forte's close-range effort rebounded off the post.
Match report supplied by the Press Association.
Match ends, Wycombe Wanderers 2, Notts County 4.
Second Half ends, Wycombe Wanderers 2, Notts County 4.
Corner,  Notts County. Conceded by Michael Harriman.
Adam El-Abd (Wycombe Wanderers) is shown the yellow card for a bad foul.
Foul by Adam El-Abd (Wycombe Wanderers).
Adam Collin (Notts County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Notts County. Alan Smith replaces Shola Ameobi.
Shola Ameobi (Notts County) is shown the yellow card for excessive celebration.
Goal!  Wycombe Wanderers 2, Notts County 4. Lewis Alessandra (Notts County) right footed shot from the right side of the six yard box to the bottom right corner.
Shola Ameobi (Notts County) hits the left post with a right footed shot from the centre of the box.
Foul by Jack Williams (Wycombe Wanderers).
Ryan Yates (Notts County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Substitution, Wycombe Wanderers. Jack Williams replaces Matt Bloomfield.
Goal!  Wycombe Wanderers 2, Notts County 3. Jonathan Forte (Notts County) header from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Shola Ameobi following a set piece situation.
Foul by Michael Harriman (Wycombe Wanderers).
Jorge Grant (Notts County) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Attempt blocked. Nick Freeman (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Corner,  Wycombe Wanderers. Conceded by Elliott Hewitt.
Attempt blocked. Matt Bloomfield (Wycombe Wanderers) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Foul by Luke O'Nien (Wycombe Wanderers).
Shola Ameobi (Notts County) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Attempt blocked. Nick Freeman (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Jonathan Forte (Notts County) header from the centre of the box misses to the left.
Substitution, Notts County. Lewis Alessandra replaces Terry Hawkridge.
Attempt missed. Adebayo Akinfenwa (Wycombe Wanderers) header from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right.
Attempt missed. Dominic Gape (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from outside the box is close, but misses to the left.
Substitution, Notts County. Jonathan Forte replaces Jon Stead.
Goal!  Wycombe Wanderers 2, Notts County 2. Joe Jacobson (Wycombe Wanderers) from a free kick with a left footed shot to the top right corner.
Matt Bloomfield (Wycombe Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Shaun Brisley (Notts County).
Attempt blocked. Michael Harriman (Wycombe Wanderers) left footed shot from outside the box is blocked.
Attempt missed. Adebayo Akinfenwa (Wycombe Wanderers) right footed shot from the centre of the box is close, but misses to the right following a set piece situation.
Luke O'Nien (Wycombe Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Terry Hawkridge (Notts County).
Corner,  Wycombe Wanderers. Conceded by Daniel Jones.
Attempt blocked. Jon Stead (Notts County) right footed shot from the centre of the box is blocked.
Foul by Dominic Gape (Wycombe Wanderers).
Elliott Hewitt (Notts County) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Attempt saved. Craig Mackail-Smith (Wycombe Wanderers) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Craig Mackail-Smith (Wycombe Wanderers) wins a free kick in the defensive half.


Labour's Sadiq Khan has been elected Mayor of London, becoming the city's first Muslim mayor.

The news has prompted headlines around the world, and Politicians and city leaders have taken to Twitter to congratulate him, including the left-leaning mayors of New York and Paris.
Congratulations also came from Ahok Basuki Purnama, the governor of Jakarta. He became Jakarta's first Christian governor in 50 years when he was elected in 2014.
Jemima Goldsmith, the sister of Conservative party rival Zac Goldsmith, congratulated Mr Khan on his victory. The ex-wife of Pakistani cricketer and politician Imran Khan also appeared to criticise her brother's campaign.
The New York Times describes Mr Khan's victory as "striking" and leads with the fact that he is London's first Muslim mayor. It described London as a city with an acute shortage of affordable homes and a creaking, overcrowded mass transit network.
A commentary in German news magazine Der Spiegel describes Mr Khan's win as a "victory over Islamophobia", and says London is breaking new ground. "The mayoral election shows that London is more liberal, clever and tolerant than the Conservative mudslingers would like to think," it says.
Qatari daily Al-Sharq says: "Once again, the British capital enters history, this time through the gate of democratic victory by electing a Muslim of immigrant descent as its mayor."
Pakistan's Dawn newspaper says that Khan should see himself as a role model for millions of Muslims living in Europe.
With the rise of increasingly popular right-wing parties across the continent, the paper's Brussels correspondent Shada Islam writes that "Khan's story should help set the record straight on immigration, integration and European Muslims".
History Professor Juan Cole points out that Mr Khan is by no means the first Muslim in charge of a European city. In a popular blog post he traces the history of Muslim rule in Spain, Greece, the Balkans, and Sicily. "Not to mention that Constantinople/Istanbul is one of the larger European cities... the mayor there is a Muslim," he says.
Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, former co-chair of the UK Conservative Party, and Business Secretary Sajid Javid congratulated Mr Khan and pointed out their similar backgrounds.
"Bus drivers are clearly the new Etonians" quipped writer and conservative activist Tim Montgomerie, referring to the elite public school attended by Prime Minister David Cameron and Mr Goldsmith.
In France's Le Figaro, London-based French essayist Laetitia Strauch-Bonnart says "two images of the United Kingdom" faced each other in this election: The "exemplary success story" of Mr Khan's life and "the billionaire's son", Mr Goldsmith.
"In order to appeal nowadays, it is better to have a disadvantaged background, a personal history made of difficulties and social mobility," she told the paper. "It's the spirit of the time, and Goldsmith was not on the right side."
Finally, before the result was in, former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt tweeted a warning about how Mr Khan could possibly be treated if Republican hopeful Donald Trump was to become US President.


Coalition air strikes have targeted a gathering of Islamic State leaders near Mosul in northern Iraq, the US says.

Friday's strikes destroyed a convoy of vehicles, a US defence official said, but could not confirm whether IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi was present.
Baghdadi made a rare public appearance at a mosque in Mosul in July.
IS militants control large areas of Iraq and Syria but have been targeted by hundreds of air strikes by the US-led coalition since August.
The statement said that 10 armed IS trucks were destroyed in the air strikes, which "demonstrates the pressure we continue to place on the IS terrorist network".
The US, Iraq and other Western and Arab countries have formed a coalition against the militant group.
The Pentagon announced on Saturday that 1,500 additional US troops will join the 1,600 military advisers that are already in Iraq to assist the country's army.
President Obama also plans to request $5.6 billion (Â£3.5bn) from Congress, including $1.6 billion to be used to train and arm Iraqi forces, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said.
Meanwhile, a wave of car bombs killed dozens of people across Iraq on Saturday.
At least 33 people died in a series of bombings in the capital, Baghdad, with the deadliest attack killing more than 10 in the Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City.
Meanwhile a suicide bomber targeted an Iraqi military convoy in the northern town of Baiji, north of Baghdad.
Eight people were killed including top police officer Lt. Gen. Faisal Malik al-Zamel, the Associated Press reported.
The British Foreign Office has said that it is aware of and looking into reports of the death of a British citizen in Baiji.
Following the suicide bombing on Friday, reports on Twitter claimed that a Briton died in the attack, but the BBC is unable to verify this.
Car bombings occur on a near-daily basis in Baghdad, and a recent surge of attacks that appear to be targeting Shia Muslims has increased sectarian tension with Sunni communities.


Queen of the South scored two late goals to beat Dundee United, who lost ground on Falkirk in the Championship.

Derek Lyle finished neatly after a Stephen Dobbie through ball but Thomas Mikkelsen rounded goalkeeper Lee Robinson to level for United.
Dobbie finished off a counter attack for Queens' second but Mikkelsen again equalised, converting a rebound after a Robinson save.
But strikes by Lyndon Dykes and Dale Hilson gave the hosts victory.
With Falkirk beating Raith Rovers, the Bairns move above Greenock Morton into second. United trail Falkirk by four points and are two off Morton, while Hibernian have a nine-point lead at the top.
Challenge Cup winners United host Falkirk next Saturday.
Queens move to within eight points of Dundee United but face a tall order to prevent Ray McKinnon's side claiming at least the final play-off place.
The sides finishing third and fourth will play off at the quarter-final stage with the winner going on to meet the league's runners-up. The semi-final winner will meet the team who are second bottom in the top flight in the Premiership play-off final.
Match ends, Queen of the South 4, Dundee United 2.
Second Half ends, Queen of the South 4, Dundee United 2.
Hand ball by Mark Durnan (Dundee United).
Corner,  Dundee United. Conceded by Jordan Marshall.
Goal!  Queen of the South 4, Dundee United 2. Dale Hilson (Queen of the South) right footed shot from very close range to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Lyndon Dykes.
Goal!  Queen of the South 3, Dundee United 2. Lyndon Dykes (Queen of the South) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Connor Murray.
Substitution, Dundee United. Alex Nicholls replaces Thomas Mikkelsen.
Foul by Chris Higgins (Queen of the South).
Thomas Mikkelsen (Dundee United) wins a free kick on the left wing.
Kyle Jacobs (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Simon Murray (Dundee United).
Substitution, Queen of the South. Dale Hilson replaces Dom Thomas.
Substitution, Dundee United. Luis Maria Zwick replaces Cammy Bell because of an injury.
Corner,  Queen of the South. Conceded by Stewart Murdoch.
Corner,  Queen of the South. Conceded by Blair Spittal.
Corner,  Queen of the South. Conceded by Willo Flood.
Substitution, Queen of the South. Connor Murray replaces Daniel Carmichael.
Joseph Thomson (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Paul Dixon (Dundee United).
Substitution, Dundee United. Blair Spittal replaces Alistair Coote.
Attempt saved. Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the left is saved in the bottom right corner.
John Rankin (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Charlie Telfer (Dundee United).
Attempt missed. Simon Murray (Dundee United) right footed shot from outside the box is high and wide to the right.
Dom Thomas (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Foul by Paul Dixon (Dundee United).
Foul by John Rankin (Queen of the South).
Tony Andreu (Dundee United) wins a free kick in the defensive half.
Goal!  Queen of the South 2, Dundee United 2. Thomas Mikkelsen (Dundee United) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the centre of the goal.
Attempt saved. Paul Dixon (Dundee United) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the centre of the goal.
Attempt missed. Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) left footed shot from outside the box is just a bit too high.
John Rankin (Queen of the South) wins a free kick in the attacking half.
Foul by Charlie Telfer (Dundee United).
Substitution, Queen of the South. Lyndon Dykes replaces Derek Lyle because of an injury.
Second Half begins Queen of the South 2, Dundee United 1.
First Half ends, Queen of the South 2, Dundee United 1.
Willo Flood (Dundee United) is shown the yellow card.
Goal!  Queen of the South 2, Dundee United 1. Stephen Dobbie (Queen of the South) left footed shot from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Dom Thomas.
Foul by Chris Higgins (Queen of the South).
Simon Murray (Dundee United) wins a free kick on the right wing.


It took American woman Winnie Li more than three years to bring herself to tell her parents that she had been the victim of a brutal sex attack.

"I knew the pain it would cause them to know their daughter had been violently raped, so I just decided not to tell them," she said.
She was on a visit to Belfast in 2008, when the horrific attack happened during a hike in a forest park.
"It's every parent's worst nightmare," said Ms Li.
In an interview with BBC Radio Ulster's Sunday News programme, Ms Li said she felt she could not tell them because she was worried about how they would react.
"My parents live in California, I live in London. I had enough stuff to go through and to deal with emotionally, and I didn't want to handle - as cruel as it sounds - or deal with their reaction," Ms Li admitted.
"I was afraid they were going to say, 'you shouldn't have gone hiking on your own'."
In the months following the attack, she suffered from severe anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She began to recover by writing an essay about the assault and aftermath, which was later published in a book.
At Christmas 2011, she gave a copy of it to her parents.
"I was really nervous about telling them, every survivor has to go through the nervousness," said Ms Li.
"You don't know how people are going to react, sometimes they're not going to believe you and that's so damaging.
"I didn't think my parents weren't going to believe me, I was afraid they were going to crumble, but I think because I was able to tell them in a coherent way and I'd been able to put my life together, it was better than if I'd told them the day after [the attack]."
Ms Li is now an active campaigner for other rape victims, and said using her voice to help others to talk about their experiences is still incredibly important to her.
"Every time I speak about it, someone else always comes up to me afterwards and says, 'I was raped too,'" she said.
"Nobody knows what to say. There's this moment of shock, and as society we need to be better equipped to know what to say and how to help loved ones."
Ms Li has written a novel, Dark Chapter, based on her ordeal and those of other women, telling the story of a rape from the perspectives of both the victim and perpetrator.
She said she hopes that it will encourage more open and honest conversations about the subject of rape, which is often still treated as a "shameful stigma".
"We're still letting victims of rape down, but I think things have changed for the better," said Ms Li.
"It's not an easy journey - not everyone's going to understand or react in the best way, but that's the fault of our society not knowing how to deal with this issue."
Winnie Li will be appearing at the Belfast Book Festival in June to discuss her experiences and her novel.


The US has confirmed Chinese President Xi Jinping will be given a state welcome when he visits in September.

Mr Xi's visit comes after President Barack Obama's trip to China in November last year.
The White House said Mr Xi would be hosted at the White House for a state dinner on 25 September.
It will be "an opportunity to expand US-China co-operation", said a spokesman, and to "address areas of disagreement constructively".
Mr Xi is expected to travel to Seattle on 22 September before visiting Washington and New York, where he is due to give a speech to the UN General Assembly on 28 September.
Among the issues likely to be on the agenda for the visit is China's increasing assertion of power over territory it claims as its own in the South and East China Sea.
China has long claimed large parts of the maritime territory and islands in the two seas - angering countries with overlapping claims - but has in recent years been actively building up its presence there and carrying out land reclamation work.
Cyber espionage will also be a point of tension. Last week, Mr Obama said alleged Chinese cyber attacks are "not acceptable".
Several hacks on US institutions have been blamed on China, including one involving the details of millions of government staff.
China has said it is opposed to cyber crime, and is itself the victim of US hacking attacks.
The visit also comes at a time of concern about the global impact of an economic slowdown in China.


The Catholic Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has thrown its weight behind protests against President Joseph Kabila extending his rule.

It called on people to peacefully oppose his move to delay presidential elections until a census is held.
At least 11 people have so far been been killed in the protests.
It is the worst unrest in the capital, Kinshasa, since the riots which broke out after Mr Kabila won a second term in disputed elections in 2011.
Mr Kabila, who first took power in 2001 following the assassination of his father Laurent, is constitutionally barred from running for another term in elections due next year.
The opposition says government plans for a census are a ploy to delay the poll so that he can hang on to power.
The government admits the election could be delayed, but says the census is vital to ensure polls are free and fair.
The Catholic Church, the largest in DR Congo, has shut its schools as violent protests continued in Kinshasa for a third day.
We went for a drive to the districts everyone is avoiding the days in the east of the capital - and there were traces of violence everywhere: Burnt cars; tyres; shattered glass; usually busy roads completely empty.
The general sense of chaos was worsened by the fact that the internet, text messaging and popular French radio station RFI have all been cut off.
At the University of Kinshasa, where there have been clashes for three days now, we saw hundreds of young men holding something of a siege.
There was a mix of anger and excitement at being all together defending a common cause.
They say dozens of students were killed over the past few days by live bullets fired by the police, including four on Wednesday morning when the Republican guard and the police stormed the campus.
Despite the violence, their determination to stop the bill from passing seemed unfaltering.
On Tuesday, internet connections and text messaging services were blocked, apparently on the orders of the government.
Many shops had been looted and set ablaze as the protests turned violent, our correspondent says.
Catholic Church head Cardinal Monsengwo Pasinya said "certain political men, with the security forces" were in "desolation" and causing insecurity in DR Congo.
"Stop killing your people," he said in a statement.
The cardinal called on the public to challenge by all "legal and peaceful means any attempt to change laws that are essential to the electoral process".
Government spokesman Lambert Mende said the 11 who died in Monday's and Tuesday's clashes included a policeman shot by a sniper and 10 civilians killed by security guards while attempting to loot private properties.
He said 22 people had been wounded, most of them policemen.
Opposition leader Vital Kamerhe disputed the government's figures, saying 28 protesters had been killed - eight on Tuesday and 20 on Monday.
The protests coincided with a debate in the Senate, the upper parliamentary chamber, over government plans to hold a census before elections.
Most senators, including members of the governing party, said they were opposed to the plan because it risked destabilising the country.
The lower chamber, the House of Representatives, approved the plan on Saturday, in a vote boycotted by opposition MPs.
The opposition says this amounts to a "constitutional coup" by Mr Kabila, as it will take about three years for a census to be conducted in DR Congo, which is two-thirds of the size of western Europe, has very little infrastructure and is hit by instability in the east.
DR Congo, formerly known as Zaire, has never had a reliable census since independence from Belgium in 1960.