A retired British miner who killed his terminally-ill wife to ‘liberate’ her from suffering is facing a new delay in his bid to be freed from prison.
David Hunter, 76, will now be sentenced on Monday next week after the court was adjourned today.
The pensioner, from Ashington, Northumberland, had been on trial for killing his spouse of 52 years, Janice, who died of asphyxiation at their home near the coastal resort town of Paphos in December 2021.
Hunter, who has been in custody for 19 months, told the court she ‘cried and begged’ him to end her life as she suffered from blood cancer.
At a hearing on Thursday, Hunter’s defence team argued that he should be given a suspended sentence, which would allow him to leave prison.
David Hunter (left) is transported from Paphos District Court in Cyprus after he was found guilty by Cypriot judges of the manslaughter of his terminally ill wife Janice, who died of asphyxiation at the couple’s home in December 2021
Hunter leaving the Paphos District Court in Cyprus after his sentencing was adjourned
Hunter smothered Janice in 2021 at their retirement home in Cyprus. Last week, he told the Paphos criminal trial how he took the heart-breaking decision to end her suffering from devastating blood cancer
After hearing submissions from both the prosecution and defence, the judge at Paphos District Court said Hunter will be sentenced on Monday, July 31.
In mitigation, his defence lawyer, Ritsa Pekri, said his motive was to ‘liberate his wife from all that she was going through due to her health conditions’.
The court heard it was Mrs Hunter’s ‘wish’ to die and that her husband ‘had only feelings of love for her’.
‘There was no personal benefit for him,’ Ms Pekri added.
She described Hunter as ‘a quiet, family man that has never troubled the authorities’ and said witnesses spoke of him ‘looking after his wife during a difficult time of her life’.
The defence team said there have been no similar cases in Cyprus and so they had instead drawn from similar cases in New Zealand, Australia and Canada.
‘We believe the suitable decision drawn from these cases is a suspended sentence,’ Ms Pekri said.
State prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou argued that the Hunters’ case ‘was not one of euthanasia’.
Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad, which is representing Hunter, said: ‘We gave lengthy written submissions which include case law from across common law countries such as Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and Australia.
‘This is important as Cyprus has never sentenced a case such as this before.
‘Cases from those jurisdictions show that a suspended sentence can be given in these circumstances.
‘We will be asking the court to give David a suspended sentence. He has spent the equivalent of almost two-and-a-half years in custody and no proper purpose would be served by him spending more time in prison.’
The cemetery where the grave of Janice Hunter, wife to David Hunter is buried near their former home in Paphos
Hunter, who has been in custody for 19 months, told the court Janice ‘cried and begged’ him to end her life
Hunter is due to be sentenced next week for the manslaughter of Janice, 74
Hunter told his trial, which lasted for more than a year, that his wife ‘cried and begged’ him to end her life as she suffered from blood cancer.
He broke down in tears as he said he would ‘never in a million years’ have taken Mrs Hunter’s life unless she had asked him to.
He showed the court how he held his hands over his wife’s mouth and nose and said he eventually decided to grant her wish after she became ‘hysterical’.
The couple’s daughter Lesley Cawthorne said the family was ‘apprehensive’ ahead of the sentencing hearing.
She said: ‘We are hoping for time served or a suspended sentence but are very aware that there’s a chance he’ll remain in custody. We’re not counting our chickens.’
Ms Cawthorne said her father had been ‘quietly relieved’ since last week’s verdict, but was ‘not especially’ hopeful about his sentence.
She added: ‘He doesn’t want to allow himself to get his hopes up.
‘He’s grateful that the judges seem to have understood what they went through and believe that he acted out of love.’
In May, Hunter broke down in tears as he told his trial, which lasted more than a year, that he would ‘never in a million years’ have taken his wife’s life unless she had asked him to.
He added: ‘She wasn’t just my wife, she was my best friend.’
Hunter showed the court how he held his hands over his wife’s mouth and nose and said he eventually decided to grant his wife’s wish after she became ‘hysterical’.
Hunter went on to attempt suicide, taking drugs and alcohol with the aim of overdosing.
But medics managed to revive him before he was arrested on suspicion of pre-meditated murder – and he has since languished in a high-security jail in Nicosia.
Hunter – a retired miner – said he was forced to treat his wife himself at home due to Covid restrictions as her health deteriorated.
Hunter made his first statement in court last week and was visibly shaking as he gave evidence. He described how he took the devastating decision to end the suffering of his wife at their home in Cyprus
The final two witnesses in the trial took the stand today, telling the court how Janice’s condition deteriorated in the last years of her life, how she became increasingly depressed, and that Hunter was a loving husband. Pictured: David and Janice Hunter seen on their wedding day
During the trial he told the court his wife was left crying out in agony 24 hours a day.
He broke down in tears as he told the court how he killed his wife after she ‘begged’ him for six weeks.
He said: ‘I don’t remember a lot of the last day. I went to make a cup of coffee and she started crying.’
He described how he went to the kettle and gripped the bench for support as his wife sat sobbing next door.
‘The next thing I knew I put my hands on her,’ he said, wiping tears from his eyes. ‘When it was finished, she was a grey colour. She didn’t look like my wife, and it was the first time I cried in many years.’
He described how he stood by her side and put his left hand on her nose and right hand over her mouth to smother her.
When prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou suggested that Mrs Hunter struggled and scratched him as he smothered her, Hunter told him: ‘She never struggled, she never moved. You are talking nonsense.’
