The unbearable grief of the mother of murdered schoolgirl Arsema Dawit spilled over yesterday as she told how 'a light has gone out of my life'.

Tsehainesh Medhani, who accused police of failing to protect 15-year-old Arsema, was barely able to speak and sobbed in a relative's arms as a statement was read on her behalf.

It said: 'I am absolutely devastated and cannot believe what has happened to my daughter. I came to this country from Eritrea to live in safety.

Distraught: Arsema Dawit's mother Tsehaynesh had to be helped by relatives

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'When my daughter was threatened I went to the police seeking protection. Sadly this did not happen. I have lost a precious, beautiful and much-loved daughter who was kind, generous and loving.

'I hope no other family has to go through the anguish that we are going through. I feel as though a light has gone out of my life.'

Mrs Medhani said she had asked for protection when her daughter complained she was being targeted by a stalker from her church.

The former choirgirl bled to death in a lift at the family's home near London's Waterloo station on Monday after being stabbed in the neck in a frenzied attack.

Murdered: Arsema Dawit

Mrs Medhani, who fled war-torn Eritrea with her three young children in 2003, was surrounded by weeping relatives as the statement was read.

The family had complained to police weeks before the killing that Arsema had allegedly been attacked by a man who had threatened to kill her.

Relatives believe officers did not properly investigate their report that she was slapped in a McDonald's restaurant and was sent threatening text messages.

According to friends, one message read: 'If I can't have you any more no one can have you.'

It has been claimed that Arsema's attacker mistakenly believed she had spurned him for another man.

Relatives claim police had not met Arsema since the McDonald's incident on April 30.

But police insist specialist liaison officers did speak to her at her school, the Harris Academy in Bermondsey, South London, on May 12.

Two internal reviews into the handling of the case by Scotland Yard have begun.

An inquest has been opened and adjourned while the police investigation continues.

Officials at Southwark coroner's court confirmed Arsema died just three days after celebrating her 15th birthday, and said her father Dawit Hayl worked in the military.

He is understood to have remained in Eritrea when Mrs Medhani fled to Britain with Arsema and her sister Feruz, now 11, and brother Robel, now 13.

Arsema was the 16th teenager to be killed in the capital so far this year, and the first female victim.

An Eritrean-born student appeared before Camberwell Green magistrates yesterday charged with her murder.

Thomas Nugusse, 21, of Ilford, Essex, was remanded in custody to appear at the Old Bailey on August 21.

Women pay their condolences to Arsema Dawit's family in South London