A British expat has been cleared of murdering his terminally unwell spouse at their retirement dwelling in Cyprus. Janice Hunter, 74, who suffered from blood most cancers, died of asphyxiation in December 2021 close to the coastal resort city of Paphos.
Her husband, former miner David Hunter, had denied homicide and informed a courtroom that his spouse had “begged him” to finish her life. Following a trial, he has been discovered responsible of manslaughter and will obtain a suspended sentence.
His legal professionals claimed her loss of life was an assisted suicide and that it was not a case of premeditated homicide.
David Hunter suffocated his spouse at a retirement dwelling in Cyprus (Handout/PA)
(PA Media)
Giving proof in May, Mr Hunter, from Ashington in Northumberland, informed the District Court in Paphos he would “never in a million years” have killed his spouse of greater than 50 years until she had requested him to, including: “She wasn’t just my wife, she was my best friend.”
He had spoken of a “perfect” 52-year marriage to his spouse and broke down in tears as he described the second he killed her.
He demonstrated to the courtroom how he suffocated her along with his arms after he finally determined to grant her want when she grew to become “hysterical”.
“For five or six weeks before she died she was asking me to help her. She was asking me more every day,” he mentioned.
“In the last week she was crying and begging me. Every day she asked me a bit more intensely to do it.”
The courtroom heard from Mrs Hunter’s physician who mentioned she had a uncommon blood most cancers, with Mr Hunter saying that she had develop into progressively extra unwell and had no high quality of life.
Asked by defence lawyer Ritsa Pekri how the final days had been, Mr Hunter mentioned: “She was crying, crying, crying, begging, begging, begging. She wasn’t taking any care of herself. For the last two or three weeks she could not move her arms and had trouble with her legs, she couldn’t balance.
“She was only eating soup, she couldn’t hold anything down. She lost a lot of weight. She lost so much weight that there was no flesh to put her injections in.”
Before he completed giving proof, he requested to deal with the choose, who he informed: “My wife was suffering and she actually said: ‘I don’t want to live any more,’ and I still said no.
“Then she started to become hysterical. I was hoping she would change her mind. I loved her so much. I did not plan it, I swear to God.”
Hunter leaving courtroom Paphos District Court on Friday
(PA)
The pensioner’s defence workforce had additionally argued {that a} confession made throughout his arrest shouldn’t have been admissible and claimed he was affected by dissociation on the time.
Prosecutors had argued that there was no proof Mrs Hunter had requested for him to kill her and that her loss of life wouldn’t have been painless or peaceable however a “horrible” expertise.
After giving proof Mr Hunter informed reporters his time in a Cypriot jail was “nothing” in comparison with the final six months of Janice’s life.
Mr Hunter informed the courtroom he tried to kill himself after his spouse’s loss of life.
The couple’s daughter, Lesley Cawthrone, mentioned that her father was “anxious, tired and lonely” and that the previous “19 months has taken a huge toll on him”.
She added: “I think the hope has been crushed out of him.
“He would probably tell other people he’s keeping his chin up but I see how much he’s struggling.”
A panel of three judges handed down the decision following a prolonged trial. Mr Hunter will return for sentencing on 27 July.