Luke Walker granted bail to return home (From Stourbridge News)

Luke Walker granted bail to return home

6:24pm Tuesday 16th October 2012 in News

BRIERLEY Hill man Luke Walker, who is accused of killing his girlfriend in Crete, is preparing to make his first return to the UK in more than two years after Greek officials adjourned his trial and granted him bail.

The 24-year-old barman from Gayfield Avenue, who was charged with murdering 20-year-old Chelsea Hyndman from Yorkshire, thought he would be on trial for the next month when proceedings got underway at the Mixed Criminal Court in Heraklion this morning.

But at the end of an hour-long first hearing – Luke, who maintains he is innocent, was granted bail and could be back at his Black Country home by the weekend.

His father Patrick told the News: “It’s been a tiring 24 hours.

“Luke’s really shattered but he’s really relieved to be going home.”

He said the family and Luke’s friends and supporters were delighted at the surprise decision to grant bail but he added: “We would have rather got it out of the way over the next few weeks – we were ready for it.”

Luke’s solicitor Georgios Pyromallis said: “The trial was postponed due to the absence of two key witnesses and Luke has been allowed to return home with the condition of depositing €10,000. This will happen within the next days.”

He said no date has yet been given for Luke to return to court, and he added: “New summonses will be sent to all witnesses and the defendant.”

The family believe it will now be into the New Year before they are summoned back to Greece – which Luke has been forbidden to leave for the last two and a half years.

He was arrested and imprisoned almost immediately after Chelsea - his girlfriend of three years - died of ruptured internal organs after being admitted to hospital with stomach pains in May 2010.

He spent 150 days in a Greek jail and then when he was eventually granted bail he was ordered to remain in Greece.

Greek authorities claim Chelsea’s death resulted from a beating at the hands of Luke but his supporters believe her injuries were caused by a fall on an earlier girls’ night out in the seaside resort of Malia where the couple had been intending to spend the summer together.