WITNESSES were today warned the trial of a man accused of killing a Suffolk millionaire at his Caribbean holiday home could start next month.The Foreign Office said that the trial of Joseph Hazel, who has been in custody for two years, was now arranged for October 20 – though admitted they would not be surprised if it was delayed again.

WITNESSES were today warned the trial of a man accused of killing a Suffolk millionaire at his Caribbean holiday home could start next month.

The Foreign Office said that the trial of Joseph Hazel, who has been in custody for two years, was now arranged for October 20 – though admitted they would not be surprised if it was delayed again.

Hazel is accused of the murder of retired Woodbridge businessman Tony Fetherston , 65, on the island of St Kitts.

The trial has been beset by delays this year, most of them caused by lawyers dealing with legal issues, but it has also proved difficult to find dates when all witnesses would be available to attend court on the island.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "The trial is now scheduled for October 20 and the arrangements are being finalised by the director of public prosecutions in St Kitts.

"It has been delayed before though and truly we will not know until much nearer the date whether it actually will start or if it will be put off again."

Hazel, 28, has been in custody since his arrest in the summer of 2001. He denies murder. The trial is expected to last two weeks.

Mr Fetherston, of Woodbridge, was killed at point-blank range by a single shot after confronting a masked gunman who demanded money from him in the garden of his home on the island in January 2000.