Mother's tribute to tragic daughter

A mother has paid tribute to her "perfect daughter" Chelsea Hyndman with her Black Country boyfriend charged with murdering the 21-year-old in Crete.

Heather Hyndman, aged 45, told of how her daughter was "full of life", and treated her younger sister Mia, aged six, as a daughter of her own.

She said: "We are devastated by Chelsea's death - we cannot believe what has happened.

"The last time we saw her was when she set off for Greece with her friends embarking on a new adventure in her life. Chelsea was full of life, very outgoing and a perfect daughter.

"We have lost not just a daughter but a best friend."

Miss Hyndman, from Castleford, West Yorkshire, died in intensive care at the Venizelio hospital after an emergency operation for ruptured internal organs, which doctors have said were caused by physical violence.

Her boyfriend Luke Walker, aged 22, of Brierley Hill, has been charged with premeditated murder and was due to find out at a court hearing today whether he will be granted bail.

His family and friends, including those in Malia where the couple were looking for work as bar staff, have expressed disbelief that he was capable of killing his girlfriend.

Speaking to the Express & Star from a hotel in Greece, his father Patrick Walker claimed his son and Miss Hyndman had met three years ago while working at the party resort and described them as "soulmates."

He said: "Luke is broken - he doesn't know what to do with himself. There's no way he would hurt her. He loved her too much. We're all worried how he is going to cope with this."

Mr Walker, who runs Brierley Hill-based Walker's Electrics, claimed Miss Hyndman's injuries occurred when she fell down some steps, landing heavily on a beer glass, during a girls' night out on the Thursday before her death.

A friend of Walker's from Malia, Jack Thomas, had similar trouble believing the allegations and added the couple went to Malia as it was often the only chance they had to spend any length of time together.

Mr Thomas, who lives in Harvington, near Kidderminster, is due to fly out again in two days, and said: "Luke wouldn't say boo to a goose.

"Nobody has given a full story about what happened or when, but if someone told me she'd been attacked in the apartment at 4am or 5am I wouldn't believe it - everyone knows each other out there and the walls are paper-thin.

"There would be too many people around at that time for nobody to see it."

One of Miss Hyndman's friends has set up a Facebook group set up in her honour, which has already attracted more than 1,200 members.

The group states: "Chelsea Hyndman was one of the most awesome, kindest, fantastic girls you could ever meet."