Frenchman charged with killing British backpacker
SYDNEY: A Frenchman was yesterday charged with stabbing to death a young British woman backpacker in Australia, but police found he showed no signs of radicalisation despite saying “Allahu Akbar” during the attack.
Twenty-nine-year-old Smail Ayad was accused of stabbing Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, multiple times late on Tuesday at a hostel in Home Hill, a rural town in north Queensland state.
The attack also left a 30-year-old British man fighting for his life with critical head injuries, a 46-year-old local man with nonlife threatening injuries, and a dead dog.
Mr Ayad — who is due in court today — faces one charge of murder, two counts of attempted murder, one count of serious animal cruelty and 12 counts of serious assault, Queensland Police said.
The French national is also accused of resisting police violently when he was taken from hospital where he had undergone a psychiatric assessment late on Wednesday, with officers using a taser and capsicum spray on him.
But while police alleged on Wednesday that Mr Ayad said “Allahu Akbar” (God is greatest) during the attack and again when arrested, investigators insisted yesterday that there were no signs of radicalisation.
“We are certainly not ruling anything out but what I can say at this stage there is absolutely no — and I repeat — there is absolutely no indication of any form of radicalisation or any particular motive in relation to this matter,” Det Supt Ray Rohweder told a news conference.
Mr Rohweder — who confirmed the names of the suspect and the victim — said one line of inquiry was whether Mr Ayad had a romantic interest in Ayliffe-Chung, although he stressed that so far there was no indication of a “romantic connection” from her point of view.
The detective said the suspect appeared to have shown “some form of change of behaviour” on Tuesday night, adding that Mr Ayad may have taken cannabis.
Canberra has been increasingly concerned about extremism and in particular about home-grown radicalisation.