British woman bludgeoned to death on her holiday of a lifetime in New Zealand

Karen Aim, 26, who was on a working holiday in the North Island town of Taupo, was attacked on her way home after an evening out with friends.

She was found by chance by police investigating a school break-in. As they searched the grounds in the early hours their torch beams suddenly illuminated the dying victim.

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Miss Aim, from Orkney, had been battered about the head and was covered in blood.

An ambulance was called and just before she was taken to hospital she managed to whisper her name to police. She died shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Last night her parents, Brian and Margaret, and brother Alan were being comforted at home.

New Zealand police refused to confirm her name or whether she had been sexually assaulted.

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But on Miss Aim's Bebo web page, tributes were being paid to the Scots traveller.

Fellow islander Gary Berston wrote: "Absolutely shocked to hear what happened to you. My thoughts go out to Brian, Peggy and Alan at this very sad time. RIP Karen."

Miss Aim had been in New Zealand for more than two months. She was making a return visit after hugely enjoying an earlier trip in October 2006.

On her web page she said she had been touring the South and North Islands, enjoying the scenery and living life to the full - sky-diving and bungee jumping.

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She had taken a job in a glass-blowing gallery in Taupo, a picturesque lakeside town in the heart of the North Island.

She said she was sharing a home with a New Zealander and an Irish girl and enjoying her adventure.

Detective Sergeant Greg Turner said: "What we have here is a real whodunit - we have a long way to go with this one at the moment."

Police have established that Miss Aim had spent the evening visiting several bars in Taupo, as the town's population of 22,000 swelled with newcomers arriving for a major motor racing event to be held over the weekend.

She is understood to have left Mulligan's Bar in central Taupo at about midnight on Wednesday, setting out to walk back to the flat she shared with her friends.

Police have yet to establish if she was alone. Sometime after leaving the bar, she came face to face with her killer.

She might not have been found until daylight had it not been for the chance discovery by officers looking into a suspected break-in at the Taupo-Nui-A-Tia College.

Shortly after 2am a seurity guard made an emergency call to the police, reporting vandalism.

Officers began searching around the perimeter of the college, looking for clues to the break-in, and were shocked to find Miss Aim lying beside the road.

A police spokesman said: "It's too early to say if there's a connection between the break-in and the death of this young woman."