MP hits out over Luke Walker case delays

Steps to secure a bail hearing for Black Country murder suspect Luke Walker are being dogged by "unacceptable delays", his MP has warned Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Margot James said that photographs and papers promised by the courts in Crete to the 22-year-old Dudley man and his family as well as the UK coroner had still not been received.

Walker, of Brierley Hill, is currently being held in a Greek prison accused of beating girlfriend Chelsea Hyndman, aged 21, to death while they were looking for work in the popular party destination of Malia.

His family and solicitors have been trying to determine a bail hearing for some time and were due to pick up the photos from the initial post mortem last week for the family's UK solicitor, and West Yorkshire coroner David Hinchliff, who will complete his own post mortem report.

The report must then be officially translated into Greek and sent back to Crete before the solicitor can apply for bail.

It is hoped that the photographs will help prove Walker's claims that Miss Hyndman died as a result of an accident before her death, when she fell heavily on a beer glass.

Ms James called for urgent action from the Foreign Office to help speed up the process.

The newly-elected Conservative MP for Stourbridge raised the issue with Foreign Office ministers in the Commons yesterday. She said: "Photographs and papers promised by the courts in Crete to Luke Walker and his family, and required legitimately by the UK coroner, are being subject to unacceptable delays.

"Do you agree that the reluctance of the Greek interior department to cooperate with UK coroners in general might be contributing to these delays?

"And can he assure my constituent, who has been now in prison for 66 days, that all possible steps are being taken to resolve these matters?"

Europe Minister David Lidington replied that he had discussed the "tragic case" with officials. "Our Consular staff in Crete have visited Luke Walker in detention and they are providing him and his family with ongoing assistance," he said.

He went on: "The Consul officials in my department are doing everything that they can to expedite the process within the limits placed upon us by our inability to interfere in the judicial process of other countries."

He added: "The Foreign Office has established together with the Department of Justice and with the Greek Ministry of Justice a working party which will look at the problems you have identified about how to ensure that important case documents are shared between the different jurisdictions."