THE brother of a 19-year-old backpacker murdered in Australia gave his first talk to sixth form pupils about ways to stay safe while travelling.

Richard Stuttle, 28, spoke about the death of his sister, Caroline, in Bundesberg four years ago, and also discussed his own worldwide travels over the past decade.

He gave an hour's talk to A-Level students at Queen Margaret's School, Escrick, and answered questions from teenagers thinking about taking a gap year before university.

Caroline, of Huntington, York, was robbed and thrown from a bridge by heroin addict Ian Previte in 2002, just two months into her gap year tour of Australia.

Richard, who was in court when Previte was sentenced to life and later, when he lost his appeal, said: "A few of the students asked about Caroline and I don't mind talking about what happened to her, because it will help those thinking of going to Australia.

"Talking about Caroline also helps me, because you do learn from experiences, and it is a way of dealing with my grief."

Richard, a chef, was giving the talk to support his mum Marjorie's work with Caroline's Rainbow Foundation, before returning to his job at a snowboarding resort in France.

The charity was set up in 2003 to provide safety advice to travellers and help those in trouble by giving financial support through the Foreign Office in Australia.

Richard said: "The students had all seen our video offering safety advice so it was good to get their feedback.

"I showed them photographs and talked about a few of my experiences and the safety aspects. It is important for friends to stay together, listen to advice and trust their own intuition.

"Everyone can end up in tricky situations, so you should do as much research as you can. Even a couple of hours reading on the internet can make a difference.

"You should also think about how people perceive you, and try to blend in rather than looking like a tourist carrying an expensive rucksack."

Richard plans to finish his time at the winter resort before driving back through Europe.

He funds his travels by working as a chef and by painting scenes of the countries he visits and selling them on.

Richard hopes to give more talks to schools in the future and is planning an exhibition of his works in York in the summer in aid of Caroline's Rainbow Foundation.

Updated: 10:15 Wednesday, March 15, 2006