BACKPACKER Caroline Stuttle was hurled screaming from a bridge to her death by an addict looking for drugs money, an Australian court was told yesterday .

"There was an episode of considerable violence on the walkway," Peter Feeney, prosecuting, said in his opening address to the Supreme Court murder trial of Ian Douglas Previte.

"Previte ignored her screams of terror and forced her over the railing," he said.

Miss Stuttle , 19, plunged to her death from the 30ft high Burnett River Bridge in the farming town of Bundaberg, 220 miles north of Queensland state capital Brisbane, on April 10, 2002. The trial is taking place in the town.

Mr Feeney said Miss Stuttle, from York, died instantly when her skull was fractured and her spine severed as she hit the ground below the bridge.

He told the court Mr Previte confessed to the killing three times - once to jail inmates, once to police, and also by writing it on a picnic table in Bundaberg.

Mr Feeney said Mr Previte tried to rob Miss Stuttle to raise money for drugs.

He said Mr Previte "forced her over the railing, such that she plummeted head first, face towards the bridge, and struck the left side of her head and left shoulder on the ground below".

Miss Stuttle was travelling through Australia with a friend before starting a psychology course at Manchester University.

More than 90 witnesses are expected to be called throughout the trial, including handwriting and forensic experts as well as prison inmates.

Miss Stuttle's English boyfriend, Ian Nelson, is due to give evidence this week.

Mr Previte, 32, has pleaded not guilty to murder and robbery. He faces a life sentence if convicted by a jury of seven men and five women.

With a towel draped over his head, he was driven to court yesterday through a crowd of waiting reporters, photographers and camera crews.

Outside court today Caroline's brother, Richard Stuttle, who travelled from England to attend the trial, said the family was still grieving.

"We still miss her every day. It gets a little bit easier, but it's still very, very difficult most days,'' he said.

Miss Stuttle's father, Alan, is also expected to fly to Australia.

Her mother, Marjorie, lives in Pocklington.