Mum of backpacker knifed to death in Australian hostel tells of her heartbreaking last words to her as she left to go travelling
Rosie Ayliffe's daughter Mia Ayliffe-Chung, was stabbed to death just weeks before her 21st birthday
THE mother of a 20-year-old woman killed while staying at a remote Australian backpackers' hostel has told of their last heartbreaking conversation before she went travelling.
Rosie Ayliffe's daughter Mia Ayliffe-Chung, was stabbed to death just weeks before her 21st birthday.
She recalled she told her daughter to be careful and that she loved her as she waved her off on the adventure.
Tragically, Mia would never return home, after the attack in August.
Rosie told the she said goodbye to her more than a year ago at their local railway station in Derbyshire's Peak District.
She hugged Mia and said "goodbye, I love you. Be careful".
She said: "I added, “Don’t forget I love you all around the world and back again.' It was what I used to 'say to her as a little girl. And we both tried to laugh through our tears.
"Obviously I was full of anxiety for her. I would rather she’d gone Inter-Railing around Europe for six weeks than going to the other side of the world, but what could I say?
"I wanted her to live her dream. She’d wanted to do this for so long."
Mia, who had been working as a bartender for the past six months, was knifed in a frenzied attack in front of 30 horrified witnesses.
Police visited Rosie's home to tell her that her daughter had been "fatally injured", but hard facts were initially hard to come by.
Later, when she got through to the consulate, she was told what had happened.
Mia had been dragged from her bed in the hostel dormitory and stabbed, allegedly by another backpacker, who has since been charged with her murder.
Another Brit, Tom Jackson, died in hospital after he tried to save her from the attack.
His father said he was "immensely proud" of his son's actions.
Mia's final Facebook posts show her enjoying her new life abroad as she declares she is "living my dream".
Only weeks ago, the backpacker posted on Facebook: "The hardest thing living my dream, missing the important home things. Graduations, people in hospital, funerals and birthdays."
Her mother responded: "You'll be back in the blink of an eye, and we'll all still be doing the same old stuff for the most part. Live your dream and know you're in all our hearts."
It has emerged the knifeman also stabbed a dog to death as he rampaged through a room of around 30 people on Tuesday night.
Cops have charged French national, 29-year-old Smail Ayad, with her murder.
The stabbing took place at an accommodation complex in the Home Hill area of Queensland, at around 11.15pm.
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Mia, also known as Mimi, was from Wirksworth in Derbyshire and graduated from Buxton College last year after studying child care.
She was taking time off to travel after completing her studies and had already visited Morocco, Turkey, India and Thailand before leaving for Australia, where she had initially planned to spend a year.
She had been dating an Australian man, Jamison Stead, up until a few weeks before her death.
Mia was only days into a three-month trip in the area having gone to do fruit picking work so she could extend her working holiday visa.
She was planning to return to the Gold Coast and the Bedroom Bar where she worked after doing the work.
Amy Browne, 19, from the Gold Coast, who worked as a bartender with Mia, said: "Mia was honestly the most bubbliest and most caring girl I knew.
"She got along with everyone she met, she just had that gorgeous personality that everyone seemed to enjoy.
"She always had a smile on her face, so innocent and full of life and love. 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."
Monique Cross, another friend, said: "She was a gorgeous person. It's an awful tragedy - I can't believe it."
A man who lives across the road from the hostel told he heard "blood curdling screams" during the attack.
"It's a very quiet town. We heard the screams, I was terrified, it wasn't very pleasant at all. I'll never forget it.
"A sleepy little town like this, you don't expect things like that to happen."
In a press conference, deputy police commissioner Steve Gollschewski said
the man charged with her murder is a visitor to Australia who has been in the country since around March on a temporary visa and has no known local connections.
He said they were still trying to find out what he has been doing in the country since his arrival but he was not known to police before the attack.
Mr Gollschewski added: "This is not about race or religion. It is individual criminal behaviour."
Australian Federal Police and the country's Border Force are also involved in the investigation.
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