Families waiting for justice

DETECTIVES have finalised their investigations into the killing of two British backpackers, with the Northern Coroner now to decide whether an inquest will be held into their deaths.

Today marks three years since Mia Ayliffe was stabbed to death by French backpacker Smail Ayad at a Home hostel in August 2016.

Tom Jackson, also from the UK, was also critically injured after he came to her aid and later died in hospital.

The pair were undertaking rural work to qualify for a second-year visa extension and had only been at the hostel for days before the frenzied attack.

Ayad was deemed mentally Hill unfit due to having symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia.

He has since been deported to France, where he is understood to be held in a secure mental health facility.

Officers continued to investigate the matter and a final police report has been sent to the Coroner.

However, a Coroners Court of Queensland spokesman said in a statement the Northern Coroner was still awaiting some final investigation material.

“The police investigation report has been received but there is further ‘final investigation material’ that is still outstanding,” he said. “It is not appropriate to comment on the particulars of that material as it is an open investigation.

“A decision as to whether or not an inquest will be conducted will be determined by the Northern Coroner when all investigations have been finalised and considered.”

In June, the Bulletin revealed the parents of the slain backpackers, Rosie Ayliffe and Les Jackson, had written to the Coroner calling for an inquest into the deaths. They are hopeful she will recommend an overhaul of Australia’s backpacker industry.

Ms Ayliffe, who has been critical of the industry in the wake of her daughter’s death, believes an inquest is a means of getting some level of justice and closure. She has previously told the Bulletin “my daughter was my life, and my life was taken from me”.