Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, dead after hostel stabbing in Home Hill, Queensland
UPDATE: The Aussie ex-boyfriend of the backpacker stabbed in Queensland “can’t get his head around” her death.
THE Australian former boyfriend of the British backpacker stabbed to death in Queensland says he is “truly devastated” by her death.
Northern Beaches photographer Jamison Stead met Mia Ayliffe-Chung — who was killed after the stabbing frenzy in Home Hill, south of Townsville, yesterday — on the Gold Coast in April.
In a statement released today, he said she had fallen in love with Australia.
“Mia was a beautiful soul who was always looking out for people,” he said.
“Mia was a girl who lived life as spontaneously as possible. She had a passion for life and it was contagious if you knew her.
“I can’t quite get my head around what’s happened. (I’m) truly devastated, more just disbelief that this has happened. It’s something you hear about but never think that it would happen to someone you were close to.”
Mr Stead said he last saw the bubbly waitress the night before she left the Gold Coast, on August 16.
The 21-year-old had planned to spend three months working on a sugar cane farm near Townsville in order to facilitate the extension of her working holiday visa.
She had been there just more than a week when she was killed.
Mr Stead has added two pictures of himself with the 21-year-old Brit on Facebook and wrote “Rest in peace Mia. Thank you for the memories”.
It’s one of many emotional messages that has poured in for the young woman from Derbyshire, who was stabbed to death at Shelley’s Backpackers in Home Hill, south of Townsville, on Tuesday evening.
The 21-year-old’s heartbroken mother, Rosie Ayliffe, also posted a touching tribute to her “Sassy, clever and kind” daughter overnight, The Sun reported.
The pair’s social media interactions show they enjoyed a close relationship, with Ms Ayliffe commenting on her daughter’s Facebook page just days before her death, “Love you all around the world and back again … (Wish I’d never said that when you were little, look what happened!)”
The distraught British woman said her waitress and model daughter had been “living her dream” on the Gold Coast just prior to her death.
“My beloved daughter Mia was an amazing young woman with an adventurous spirit,” she said.
“Not only was she kind and funny, she was clever, sassy, with a sense of fun.
“Mia was full of the kind of open-minded compassion for life that you don’t see that often.”
Ms Ayliffe said her daughter was an “outstanding friend to many”.
“Her feisty nature and strong sense of justice made Mia a beloved friend to her peers and to all those who knew her,” she said.
“Mia was a rare person who saw beyond race, creed and belief.
“She would always treat others with dignity, respect and kindness.
“Just seeing her outward appearance could not give you an inkling of how wonderful she was, emotionally, socially and mentally.
“As a peaceful person Mia had huge respect for everybody.
“She would not want to be the reason for any hostilities caused by any misrepresentations of events.”
Ms Ayliffe-Chung’s family are believed to be making preparations to travel to Australia to return her body to the UK.
ROMANTIC OBSESSION
The Frenchman suspected of stabbing the young backpacker to death has been revealed as 29-year-old Smail Ayad.
The self-described boxer has been living in Australia since March on a temporary visa but lists his home in Thailand.
Police are said to be investigating whether he had a romantic obsession with Ms Ayliffe-Chung. He was friends with her on Facebook. Others present in the hostel told The Australian his behaviour changed drastically on Tuesday evening.
“Everybody has told us he was completely crazy, they couldn’t recognise him,” a French tourist told the paper.
“He said he wants to kill everybody … maybe there is alcohol and drugs involved.”
Paul Lovatt, head of pastoral care at Anthony Gell School, which Ms Ayliffe-Chung attended as a student, said the entire school community was “shocked and saddened” by the news.
“Mia was a bubbly student who was energetic, caring and who immersed herself in life, enriching the school environment she contributed to. Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this most difficult of times,” he said.
Her friend Michael Clegg told news.com.au: “I met Mia when she first arrived on the Gold Coast... I was working outside Sin City as the Host ... What a beautiful soul, kind and free spirited.
“I only met her a few times and then left my job and she then started working in the clubs. She was so gentle and beautiful.”
Family friend Trudy Curtis told the Mail Online Ms Ayliffe-Chung’s mother Rose was devastated by the news that she was “too distraught to comprehend.”
“She has lost her beautiful daughter, her only child, in a most violent murder. It doesn’t get any worse than that,” she said.
“The fact that it happened in another country and on the other side of the world makes it worse.”
Ms Ayliffe-Chung’s sister Natasha said she was also still in shock at the news and does not yet know the full details of the attack.
The UK Foreign Office has been providing assistance to the family and it is thought they will travel to Australia shortly.
Meanwhile Gold Coast hospitality worker Chris Porter is thought to have fractured both his heels jumping out of a second-storey window to avoid the attacker.
His brother Aaron said from his hospital bedside: “I think he has fractured both his heels — he was on the second storey and had to jump out the window.
“The guy has chased him down the road with the knife. He’s had to wave down a car and this guy was trying to smash the car window.”
Another British man, Tom Jackson, 31, was also injured in Tuesday’s stabbing attack and remains in hospital. Australian man Grant Scholz, 46, received non-life threatening wounds and a dog was also killed in the attack.
Multiple law enforcement agencies are investigating if terrorism is behind the death.
Witnesses claim the 29-year-old French national yelled “Allahu akbar” — “God is the greatest” in Arabic — before killing Ms Ayliffe-Chung.
Queensland Police Service deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski said a review of officers’ body cameras confirmed the phrase was yelled.
However he appealed for calm, saying there was no evidence Ms Ayliffe-Chung’s suspected killer was radicalised and other issues such as mental health were still being investigated.
‘BEAUTIFUL AND SOULFUL GIRL’
The young British backpacker had spent much of her time in Australia working as a waitress at the Bedroom Lounge and Bar in Surfers Paradise. She had previously studied psychology and childcare in the UK.
She left for the state’s north for a three-month stint harvesting sugar cane just 10 days ago, to facilitate the extension of her working holiday visa.
Posts made on her Facebook page as recently as Monday show her counting down the days until she could return to working in a bar on the Gold Coast.
The young woman did appear to warm to farm life, however, with a video of her happily driving a truck with a dirt-smeared forehead, as fellow workers continued to work in the field, posted five days before her death.
Shocked friends flooded social media with tributes as the news of her violent death emerged on Wednesday.
“Just can’t believe it. Mia Ayliffe-Chung was too young and such a beautiful & soulful girl,” Hannah Weisskopf-Biggs wrote.
“Mia was an infectiously happy, young girl, and will be missed dearly. RIP,” Rowan Clark said.
Work colleague Amy Browne, 19, of the Gold Coast, said she was the “bubbliest and most caring girl I knew”.
“She always had a smile on her face, so innocent and full of life and love,” she wrote. “Our memories will be cherished forever and I know she’d want us all to stay positive in the darkest of times. Rest in peace my beautiful friend, heaven has truly gained another angel.”
“RIP Lovely, fly high,” Rebecca Fitzgerald Newman wrote about the young woman known as Mimi.
James Marilyn Cowan said: “There are no words. I am so sorry, our thoughts are with the family.”
The attack occurred at Shelley’s Backpackers hostel in Home Hill about 11.15pm on Tuesday.
Ms Ayliffe-Chung died at the scene, while the 31-year-old man was rushed to Townsville Hospital, where he continues to fight for life.
Mr Sholtz suffered non life-threatening stab wound to his leg when he tried to intervene.
A neighbour known only as Ray told the ABC he heard “blood curdling screams” about 11pm Tuesday in the “sleepy little town”.
“I’ll never forget the screaming — I’ve never heard that before in my life. It’s terrible,” he said.
“A sleepy little town like this, you don’t expect things like that to happen.”
Queensland Police’s Mr Gollschewski said the suspect remained in custody but was yet to be charged. He has been treated in Townsville Hospital for cuts to his arm, where he remains under police guard and is yet to be interviewed by detectives.
Mr Gollschewski moved to reassure the community he appeared to be acting alone.
“The investigation is still in its early stages, however, initial inquiries indicate that comments which may be construed as of an extremist nature were made by the alleged offender,” he said.
“It is alleged the suspect used the phrase ‘Allahu akbar’ during the attack and when arrested by police.
“While this information will be factored in we are not ruling out any motivations at this stage, whether they be political or criminal.”
‘SHEER DISBELIEF’
Emily Jayne Waters moved out of the hostel less than a month ago and told news.com.au she was very close to Tom Jackson, who was critically injured in the attack.
Miss Waters said she believed he stepped in and tried to help the victim as she was being attacked — while other close friends watched in horror at the carnage unfold.
“Our closest friends are involved in this,” she wrote on Facebook. “I’m sat on my bed in absolute sheer disbelief. RIP to the poor girl who’s life has been taken, and to all my friends and the one in particular who is in critical condition in hospital right now after no doubt being an absolute hero in this nightmare. My thoughts are with you and, only you know, if I could I would come back today to be with you.”
She said the injured man was the “kindest soul” who she spent almost every night with.
“For now my friend is in the best place and I know he will be looked after. I’ll just keep asking the universe that he makes it through,” she wrote.
‘NO KNOWN LOCAL CONNECTIONS’
Queensland Police deputy commissioner Steve Gollschewski said the Frenchman was not known to Australian police and had been in the country since March on a temporary visa. There was no evidence he had been radicalised, he said.
“This person appears to have acted alone, he is a visitor to Australia and has no known local connections,” he said.
“We are considering all options here. We are working very closely with our partner agencies to ensure that if there is any indication that this has an extremist slant to it or this person had been radicalised, we would be able to discover that.
“At this stage, we have no evidence of that.”
The Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force are assisting Queensland Police with the investigation.
AFP Commander Sharon Cowden said federal officers would work with overseas counterparts to determine if there was a terror element to the attack.
“This was senseless act of violence … (but) there is no other indication but that he was acting alone,” she said.
Mr Gollschewski said the man had entered Australia lawfully and had not come to the attention of authorities in the months he had been in the country.
He said drugs and potential mental health issues were also yet to be ruled out as behind the crimes.
“The associated issues of what motivated him and whether that has any relevance to radicalisation is something we are going to explore fully, we could be dealing with a purely criminal act or even something related to mental health or drugs,” he said.
FIGHT WATCHED BY 30 PEOPLE
Townsville police Superintendent Ray Rohweder said a fight erupted between the Frenchman and the two British backpackers in front of 30 onlookers at Shelley’s Backpackers before the stabbing occurred.
Paramedics were called but were unable to save the young woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Supt Rohweder said the British consulate had been notified and was in the process of breaking the news to the next-of-kin of both the young woman and man.
The British High Commissioner to Australia, Menna Rawlings, has travelled to Townsville in the wake of the attack.
He said it was not yet clear what sparked the fatal fight.
“We’re still trying to piece together what has happened, as you can imagine there were a lot of people present at the time, there are in excess of 30 witnesses, but as we understand it the French gentleman has attacked both the two British nationals,” he said.
“We’re still trying to establish motive, it’s not until we speak to all witnesses we will be in a position to know more.”
Home Hill is a small town in the centre of a sugar cane growing region south of Townsville, where many young foreign backpackers stay for extended periods to undertake seasonal picking work.
Supt Rohweder said it was believed the trio were all known to each other and had been staying at the backpackers hostel while working locally.
He described the scene that met officers who arrived as a confronting one.
“I can tell you the scene that confronted police was terrible, both officers in my book acted tremendously (and) ensured the safety of others,” he said.
Supt Rohweder said police had seized a knife believed to be used in the fatal attack at the scene and did not suspect anyone else of being involved in the young woman’s death.
Do you know more? Email kim.stephens@news.com.au or victoria.craw@news.com.au
— Additional reporting by Andrew Koubaridis and Emma Reynolds
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