British ‘mercy-killing’ husband David Hunter, 76, could leave Cyprus prison this week as judges prepare to sentence him for manslaughter of his terminally ill wife

• David Hunter, 76, will be sentenced in hearing expected to last at least two days
• His legal team wants a suspended sentence – he has spent 19 months in custody

A retired British miner may be able to leave prison this week as Cypriot judges prepare to sentence him for the manslaughter of his terminally ill wife.

David Hunter, 76, will be sentenced in a hearing expected to last at least two days from Thursday after being cleared of the more serious charge of premeditated murder.

His legal team will be arguing he should be given a suspended sentence and that there is ‘no point in keeping him in prison any longer’.

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.

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 near Paphos, Cyprus in December 2021. Picture date: Friday July 21, 2023

David Hunter (left) smothered his wife, 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

The couple’s daughter Lesley Cawthorne said the family was ‘apprehensive’ ahead of the sentencing hearing.

READ MORE: Daughter of British expat accused of murdering his terminally-ill wife is ‘hoping for the best but fearing the worst’ ahead of Cyprus court’s verdict

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.’

Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad, which is representing Hunter, told PA: ‘In this case we are putting forward case law from across common law jurisdictions such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom, given that no cases such as this have ever been dealt with in Cyprus.

‘In these jurisdictions, the courts have found that suspended sentences are appropriate where the facts are similar to those in David’s case.

‘Last week the court found in David’s favour on all matters including that Janice had requested that he help her die, that he had acted because of his love for her, and that he then tried to end his own life.

READ MORE: Brit locked up in Cyprus with expat, 75, who killed his wife in ‘suicide pact’ says it is ‘disgusting’ he is being prosecuted for murder because ‘it was done out of love’

‘We will be submitting to the court that a suspended sentence is appropriate in this case, given the type of offence, David’s age, the fact that he has spent 19 months in custody, and his previous good character.

‘There is no point in keeping David in prison any longer.’

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.

Mr Hunter (pictured in March, 2023) 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 Mr 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, Mr Hunter told him: ‘She never struggled, she never moved. You are talking nonsense.’

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