Mother of murdered backpacker Mia Ayliffe-Chung speaks for first time since she was killed
The mother of a British backpacker who was stabbed to death at an Australian hostel has spoken for the first time about the moment she found out her daughter had been murdered.
Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, from Wirksworth in Derbyshire, was killed last Tuesday in front of dozens of backpackers in what police described as an "act of senseless violence", as another Brit tried in vain to save her.
Tom Jackson, 30, from Cheshire, died of his injuries a week later.
Speaking in Australia, Rosie Ayliffe said: "It was past 10 at night and two policemen came in and looked incredibly serious.
"I thought I'd parked my car somewhere I shouldn't have, I thought I'd done something that I shouldn't have done.
"They said there was no easy way of telling me and that Mia had been fatally wounded. That was when I went into shock that I didn't come out of for a long time."
Mia had been working at a bar in Surfers Paradise, in Australia's Gold Coast.
She had moved to the rural area of Townsville in Queensland just days before the attack to complete three months of farm work needed to extend her Australian working holiday visa.
"Mia was vivacious and she was extremely funny," added Ms Ayliffe.
"She didn't take any prisoners. She had a cutting wit, shall we say, but she was a very compassionate girl. She had a deep love of small children."
Police have charged 29-year-old French man Smail Ayad with her murder.
Following the death of Mr Jackson, detectives are expected to upgrade an additional attempted murder charge to murder when Ayad next appears in court on October 28.
When asked about her feeling towards Mia's killer, Ms Ayliffe said: "If he is capable of contrition and of realising what he has done, I feel pity for him, because he now has to live knowing that he has killed two beautiful, strong, exceptional people - and even if they weren't he's killed two people - he has to live with that."