“I STILL keep thinking she has just gone away and is going to walk back through the door.”

Christine Bywater has described how the loss of her beloved daughter Julie had robbed her of her “soulmate”.

Julie lived at home with her mum in Moordown and had followed in her footsteps working with special needs children at Linwood School.

The pair enjoyed many memorable holidays together to far-flung destinations such as India, Australia and Kenya.

Speaking after the conviction of Julie’s killer, Alan Pickersgill, Christine told the Daily Echo: “Julie was my beautiful daughter but also my soulmate. My life will never be the same again and I feel very empty at times. I can’t believe she is never coming back. I hope I will move on in time, helped by my wonderful memories of her.”

Julie, 32, spent four years in Spain working as a holiday rep before returning to Bournemouth and her job at Linwood.

Christine, who brought up Julie on her own, said she had been “extremely proud” of her daughter’s work with autistic children.

She said that her dream had been to find someone to settle down with.

“Julie had experienced so much,” said Christine.

“She was happy with her life and job, and she just wanted to meet someone to have children with.”

Claire Browning met Julie when the pair were studying nursery nursing together at college and they had been best friends ever since.

The pair were devoted Take That followers and also shared several amazing holidays.

“Julie was like my sister,” said Claire, 33. “She was always bubbly and happy, with a smile on her face.

“I’m just grateful I have so many happy memories of her.”

Christine, 65, said she had sat through every day of Pickersgill’s trial to try to secure justice for her daughter.

She thanked the support of her friends and the police, which had “helped give me the strength to see it through”.

A ‘beautiful person’ with an ‘infectious smile’ is how Julie Bywater is remembered by her many friends.

On a Facebook tribute page dedicated to her memory the sense of loss and disbelief at her death is clear.

Many have asked how ‘something so awful could happen to someone so lovely’. Others described the gaping hole left in their lives by her absence.

More than 380 friends, family members and colleagues have joined the site, which has been inundated with heartfelt messages.

The teaching assistant’s caring nature is described again and again. She is described as someone who lifted others’ spirits, with a kind word and infectious laugh. She was the ‘sweetest person’ who ‘wouldn’t hurt a fly’.

Messages include ‘You were an inspiration to me, and will be forever. Thank you for all you did, and the devotion and help you were able to give’.

And ‘You were a ray of sunshine in all our lives and brightened up even the dullest of days. I feel privileged to have known you’.

Another friend added: “To remember Julie is to think of caring and kindness, laughter and life – a gorgeous girl forever in our hearts.”