Mum’s horror at finding Avril

Avril Flanagan had been stabbed so many times that her mother thought she was wearing red.

Barbara Flanagan, 53, has spoken of the horror of finding her bloodied body after Avril’s boyfriend, Alan Daulby, stabbed her 47 times at the flat they had shared in Costa Blanca, Spain, in May 2009.

Daulby stabbed her after Avril ended their relationship. He has been convicted of murder and could face a 20-year sentence.

He attacked Avril hours before she was due to catch a flight to Ireland with her mother to attend her 21st birthday party.

Mrs Flanagan said that if she had not gone to the flat, Daulby might have got away with the murder.

“He would have got away with it and we would have been looking for her forever, just like the McCanns might be looking for their poor daughter Madeleine,” she said.

She said when she saw Avril lying dead by a sofa moments after getting into the flat, she first thought it couldn’t be her “because she didn’t wear red”.

“Then I realised it was blood, covering her from head to toe, and started to scream,” said Mrs Flanagan, who described how Daulby had taped up Avril “like a mummy”.

“I got hold of a pair of scissors and cut the tape and plastic from around Abbey [Avril]’s neck and her hair, which should have been a beautiful blonde but was black from all the blood. I wanted her to breathe even though I knew she couldn’t.”