Luke Walker to appeal against eight-year suspended sentence for GBH leading to death of Chelsea Hyndman
A British man has been convicted of killing his girlfriend on the Greek holiday island of Crete.
Luke Walker, 25, was initially charged with murdering 20-year-old Chelsea Hyndman, who died on 17 May 2010.
During the two-day trial, however, the charge was downgraded to GBH leading to death, on which the jury found him guilty.
Walker, from Brierley Hill near Dudley, was given an eight-year sentence for the crime, which he immediately appealed against.
He was told the sentence would be suspended and he could return to England if he paid a €10,000 euro (£8,550) bail surety. He will have to return to the Greek island at a later date for a retrial at an appeals court. His parents, friends and other family members were in court for the brief trial.
Walker, who looked shocked and tired as the verdict and sentence were announced, did not comment as he left court. His father Patrick said it was not quite the outcome they had hoped for.
"It wasn't the result that we wanted, obviously," he said.
"He was hoping to be acquitted. With the circumstantial evidence that they were putting forward we were quite confident that we would get the result.
"When he gave out eight years I could have died. I thought 'how are we going to live, how are we going to cope with this?'
"We were devastated but we've appealed," he said, adding that the defence lawyer, George Pyromallis, was much more confident of winning the case in an appeal court.
"Although it's still hanging over our heads at least he's not in prison, which is the main thing."
During the trial, the court heard that Hyndman, of Castleford, West Yorkshire, died after she was taken to hospital with abdominal pains in May 2010.
She died of acute peritonitis on 17 May, after her health deteriorated over a number of days.
Greek prosecutors claim Walker beat Hyndman, but he told the court he did not know the reason for her death.
Hyndman's mother Heather and her partner Neil Lorriman were in court for the trial but declined to comment at the end.
In his testimony to the court Walker, who lived with his girlfriend of two years in the town of Malia where they both worked in bars, said "my whole life fell apart" as she was rushed to hospital the day before she died.
A few days before, in the early hours of 12 May, the couple had arrived back at the apartment they shared and Hyndman became irritated with Walker because he began cooking and she was feeling nauseous.
They had a "little bicker", Walker said, and she went out. He assumed she had gone to a friend's nearby apartment.
Asked by the trial judge if he had pushed her, if she had hit herself against any furniture or if he had hurt her, he replied "no".
"You're saying categorically, adamantly, no?" Walker was asked.
"No I didn't," he said.
The court heard that in the runup to Hyndman's death she had become increasingly ill.
Her stomach was bloated, her eyes turned a yellow colour, she was sick and constipated and witnesses said she appeared weak.
Asked what he thought was the reason for her death, Walker said: "All I know is that I stand here trying to tell you what I know.
"I know I'm innocent. I'm here to clear my name."
His voice breaking with emotion, he said "Chelsea was my whole life" and said he would never have hurt her, and never did.
"I don't know how she died. I can't answer that question, but I know I'm innocent."
The court heard that Hyndman died from acute peritonitis as a result of a blow to her abdomen.
This had caused damage to her pancreas and resulted in a leakage of pancreatic digestive fluids.
She was operated on in hospital but doctors were unable to save her.
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