Ex-York student Neil Entwistle ‘may flee if bailed’

11:05am Saturday 16th December 2006

A British man accused of murdering his American wife and baby should not be released on bail because of fears he might flee before his trial, prosecutors told a US court.

Neil Entwistle, a former University of York student, should not be allowed to return to stay with his parents in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, because he has shown the "clear pattern of flight and unreliability", assistant district attorney Michael Fabbri said.

Such a move, as his defence team has requested, could place a burden on UK police, Mr Fabbri said.

Entwistle, 28, who denies shooting his wife Rachel, 27, and their nine-month-old daughter, Lillian Rose, at their home in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, has been in custody in America since February and has not seen his parents, Clifford and Yvonne, since then.

He flew back to England and stayed with them at the time of the killings before being arrested and returned to the US after waiving his right to fight extradition.

Mr Fabbri said letting the unemployed IT worker go back to Britain again would "open the door to 20 or 30 countries in Europe" for him. Arguing against the bail request at Middlesex Superior Court in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he said: "The clear pattern is of flight and unreliability on Mr Entwistle's part. He fled the scene immediately, as he admitted, without seeking medical help after purportedly finding his wife and daughter shot in his own home."

Entwistle's lawyer, Elliot Weinstein, said he should be released on bail under "very strict conditions" which would involve him being confined to his parents' house for 24 hours a day, wearing an electronic GPS monitoring tag and calling British or American authorities daily.

At the hearing Judge Peter Lauriat also moved the proposed trial date back from April next year to October 1.

He quizzed Entwistle, who was wearing a pink shirt and tie and a grey suit, and was not shackled, on whether he was happy for his case to be delayed even if he was not released on bail. Entwistle answered: "No, no objection."

The judge did not indicate when he would rule on the bail request.

Mr Weinstein told the hearing Entwistle's parents had agreed to put up their house as security, to be forfeited if he broke the conditions of his bail.