A 29-year-old man has been charged with murder as an alleged infatuation with a British woman emerged as a focus of a police investigation into her stabbing death at an Australian backpackers hostel.

French-Algerian man Smail Ayad, had met Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, just days earlier as her roommate at the hostel in Home Hill, north Queensland, when he was arrested at the scene of the attack on Tuesday.



Ayad allegedly shouted “Allahu Akbar” – God is greatest in Arabic – during the attack, in which two men who came to Ayliffe-Chung’s aid were wounded, including a British man with critical injuries. However, detective superintendent Ray Rohweder said on Thursday there was “no indication whatsoever that any radicalisation or any political motives existed to cause him to attack the people that he did”.

Ayad faces one charge of murdering Ayliffe-Chung and one of the attempted murder of Briton Tom Jackson.

The French national also faces a serious animal cruelty charge over the fatal wounding of a dog and charges allegedly relating to serious assaults on 12 police officers following his arrest.

He is due to appear in Townsville magistrates court on Friday by videolink.

Ayad’s alleged assaults in custody include biting one officer. Police used a stun gun and capsicum spray to subdue him in the Townsville watchhouse.

Rohweder said this arrangement was agreed to by Ayad’s legal representatives.

Rohweder said Ayad, who had consular assistance from the French government, had declined to be interviewed by police before he was charged.

Jackson’s father was due to arrive from Britain to visit his critically injured son in Townsville hospital on Thursday night.

Rohweder said Jackson remained “very ill and the prayers of the Queensland police service and I imagine the Queensland public are with him”.

He said a toxicology test result on Ayad was not yet available but police, who were examining whether mental health or drugs misuse issues were factors in the incident, would allege he had smoked cannabis on the night of the alleged attacks.

Body cameras worn by police allegedly recorded him again uttering “Allahu Akbar” when he was arrested at the scene at Shelley’s Backpackers, but French nationals who witnessed the incident have told police Ayad’s shouted speech that was incoherent and nonsensical.

Emergency personnel at Home Hill in northern Queensland on Wednesday after the fatal stabbing attack. Photograph: AP

Ayad, who had been in Australia on a temporary visa since March, allegedly told fellow hostel guests he planned to marry Ayliffe-Chung in the days before the attack.

On Tuesday night, Ayad was allegedly armed with a kitchen knife when he roused Ayliffe-Chung from her bed and hauled her on to a balcony where he repeatedly stabbed her.

A caretaker at the hostel, Grant Schultz, tried to intervene and was wounded in the leg.

Witnesses described Ayad then performing a “swan dive” from a stairwell before allegedly stabbing the dog belonging to John Norris, one of the hostel owners.

Ayad allegedly then pursued the wounded Ayliffe-Chung, who had sought refuge in a bathroom with the aid of Jackson, 31.

Ayad allegedly set upon Jackson, stabbing him in the eye, head and torso.

The Briton was still fighting for his life on Wednesday night.

The alleged attack was witnessed by up to 30 onlookers, some of whom are understood to have recorded the incident on their mobile phone cameras.

Mia Ayliffe-Chung was on a working holiday visa in Australia. Photograph: AAP

Ayliffe-Chung’s mother paid tribute to her from England, describing her as an “amazing, adventurous and sassy” daughter.

Ayliffe-Chung, from Derbyshire in the UK, was days into a three-month stint doing casual labour on farms in the area – a condition by which working holiday makers can extend their visit to Australia.

Home Hill, a sleepy sugar cane town of about 3,000 people, is one of a string of coastal north Queensland towns popular with overseas backpackers, on whose labour the domestic Australian horticulture industry increasingly relies.

Ayliffe-Chung had previously worked six months on the Gold Coast as a bartender at The Bedroom nightclub.

Paying tribute, her half-sister Nicola Chung, told the Guardian: “She was bubbly, carefree and had trained to be a nanny, because she loved children.

“She was just backpacking. She had been travelling for a year and had arrived in Australia.”

Queensland police had sought the involvement of the Australian federal police in the investigation in response to Ayad’s alleged cries of “Allahu Akbar”.