Luke Walker's family in talks to secure bail date

The family of a Dudley man held in a Greek prison accused of beating his girlfriend to death were today meeting solicitors to try and determine a date for a bail hearing.

Luke Walker, aged 22, of Brierley Hill, is accused of murdering 21-year-old Chelsea Hyndman, from Castleford, Yorkshire, while they were out looking for work in the popular party destination of Malia.

His father Patrick, who has been in the UK dealing with solicitors in this country, flew to Crete yesterday.

He went for a lunchtime meeting with a translator to talk through the bail process.

Brother Ryan, aged 28, said the family was getting frustrated with the constant delays. "We don't know how the system works - whether we'll be allowed in, how long it will take, anything," he said.

"The purpose of today's meeting is to get those kind of details, and try and pin him down to a date.

"Luke's pinning a lot of hopes on the meeting today so I hope we get something sorted." He said the main problem facing them was the authorities were "dragging their feet" on releasing pictures from the first post mortem.

Meanwhile, friends of the couple in Malia say the case has "completely changed" the island's party atmosphere.

Talking from a hotel in Malia, Louise Purdie, aged 24, rejected the accusations against Walker and claimed the resort's "every day is a party" attitude had been dampened by the situation.