The family of a West Yorkshire woman killed on Crete, have spoken of their pain after the man accused of her murder was allowed to return on bail to the UK.
Chelsea Hyndman, 20, died after she was taken to hospital with abdominal pains on the holiday island in May 2010.
Greek prosecutors claim she was beaten to death by her 24-year-old boyfriend Luke Walker, a charge he has always denied. Yesterday, the first day of the trial lasted less than an hour before being adjourned because key prosecution witnesses had not been summoned.
The court then granted Walker, who has spent the last two-and-a-half years in Crete, five months in jail, permission to return to Britain.
Speaking from a Crete hotel room, Neil Lorriman, the partner of Chelsea’s mother Heather, said the family are “extremely frustrated”. “It is difficult to take and obviously not what we were expecting,” he said. “We never even got the chance to say anything.
“We are looking at our options now to find out where we go from here.”
The family have been actively raising a fighting fund in the community to help pay legal costs and for an interpreter, with the Wilkinsons store in Castleford where Heather works, donating several thousands pounds alone.
Her colleague Lynn Gray said: “Heather will be devastated by this.
“She was just looking forward to the chance to fight for Chelsea.
“It is the last thing that she can do for her.
“We were hoping it would be finally over for her – obviously it will be a lot longer now.”
The family have been actively raising a fighting fund in the community to help pay legal costs and for an interpreter, with the Wilkinsons store in Castleford where Heather works, donating several thousands pounds alone.
Her colleague Lynn Gray said: “Heather will be devastated by this. She was just looking forward to the chance to fight for Chelsea. It is the last thing that she can do for her.
“We were hoping it would be finally over for her – obviously it will be a lot longer now.”
Many of the witnesses who attended yesterday’s aborted trial had flown in from Britain, with Chelsea’s family watching proceedings from the front rows of the public gallery.
Walker, of Brierley Hill near Dudley, West Midlands, who has always denied murdering his girlfriend, spoke through an interpreter to confirm his identity. Walker has always said Chelsea fell during a night out in the nearby resort town of Malia, where the pair were living and working as bar staff.
Speaking after the hearing, he said it was the “best outcome so far”. He said: “All I want to do is clear my name.”