THE student who died after being attacked in Irvine was yesterday

buried on Skye, her mother's native island.

The funeral service for Shona Stevens, 31, who died last month, took

place in Portree Church of Scotland and was conducted by the parish

minister the Rev. John Ferguson. Mrs Mairi Smith, Ms Stevens's mother,

belongs to the crofting community of Staffin, but now lives in Portree.

Mr Ferguson told the 130 mourners: ''We are all aware of the tragic

circumstances in which Shona was so suddenly taken away, and of the time

that has elapsed before we could have this service.''

He went on to express sympathy for the emotional, physical and mental

stress that the murdered woman's family was enduring. She was laid to

rest in the village cemetery in Portree.

Mrs Smith attended the funeral with Candice, Ms Stevens's

seven-year-old daughter. Her husband is understood to be living in South

Africa. She had returned to Scotland after the break-up of her marriage.

Ms Stevens died in the Southern General Hospital, Glasgow, on November

13. She had been found lying in the undergrowth in a park near her home

in Alder Green the previous week, suffering from severe head injuries

thought to have been the result of an attack with a blunt instrument.