CAROLINE Stuttle left for Australia brimming with hope and excitement.

This was more than a holiday. It was the launch of her adult life, a moment when she could grab the world and all its possibilities.

But the adventure had barely begun when it was cut short in the most brutal way. Caroline was walking across a bridge to her digs when drug addict Ian Previte snatched her bag. As she fought back, he threw her to her death.

It was a senseless, cowardly, despicable act.

Previte today begins a life sentence for Caroline's murder. There is evidence that he feels some remorse: he was convicted partly on the basis of three guilt-ridden confessions. But if he were truly sorry, Previte would have admitted his crime and spared Caroline's family the anguish of a drawn-out trial.

Today's verdict will be a relief for her many friends and loved ones. For a long time it seemed that her death on the other side of the world would remain unexplained and unpunished. It is comforting for communities in both Yorkshire and Queensland that the killer is now behind bars.

Like everyone who has followed this awful story, we are lost in admiration for the Stuttle family.

They have shown depths of courage, dignity and compassion few of us could ever match. Parents Alan and Marjorie and brother Richard have built hope on the foundations of tragedy.

Thanks to them, Caroline's adventurous spirit lives on.

Updated: 09:50 Friday, October 15, 2004