Family of Luke Walker fear legal bill of £300k

The family of Black Country murder suspect Luke Walker, who is accused of killing his girlfriend while abroad, today revealed legal bills could spiral beyond £300,000 as they battle to clear his name.

The 24-year-old is accused of beating his girlfriend, Chelsea Hyndman, 21 to death in Crete and will stand trial on October 16-30 months to the day since Miss Hyndman died and he was arrested.

The couple had been looking for summer work when she was rushed to hospital.

His father Patrick, who runs Brierley Hill-based firm Walker's Electrics, said the family were struggling to scrape together the legal fees to fight the case as they split their time between Greece and England.

"It's getting really hard," he admitted today. The family have already been forced to remortgage their home in Brierley Hill.

"What I earn doesn't even cover the legal fees. The costs have just escalated beyond belief – and it's not over yet.

"We have spent well over £200,000 already and we've got a way to go. I've asked our solicitor for an estimate so we at least know what we need to raise.

"We've only been able to get this far thanks to how generous people have been. People around us are still fundraising, and family have helped. It is a struggle though."

Prosecutors claims Walker beat long-term girlfriend Miss Hyndman to death in what they have labelled a fit of "jealous rage".

Miss Hyndman, 20, from Castleford, Yorkshire, died while in intensive care in May 2010 after suffering from abdominal pain. Walker claims her injuries were first caused by a fall on a girls' night out.