David Hunter: Man who killed seriously ill wife cleared of murder

David Hunter waved to the media as he was led away from court after being cleared of murder

A British man who killed his seriously ill wife at their home in Cyprus has been cleared of her murder.

David Hunter, 76, was instead convicted of manslaughter after suffocating 74-year-old Janice Hunter at the property near Paphos in December 2021.

The retired miner from Ashington, Northumberland, maintained her death was assisted suicide and his wife, who had blood cancer, had begged him to end her misery.

He will be sentenced on 27 July.

Hunter's lawyer argued the death was assisted suicide because Mrs Hunter was suffering and she asked him to do it. His trial heard he had attempted to take his own life after she died.

As the three judges handed down their verdict at the district court in Paphos, Hunter hugged his legal team and told the BBC he was "happy and elated".

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His lawyer Michael Polak, from Justice Abroad, said the verdict meant there was a "very good chance" his client would receive a suspended sentence and be able to return to the UK to live with his daughter.

"This wasn't a pre-planned act," Mr Polak said. "He acted on the spur of the moment because she was in so much pain."

Mr Polak said the judges accepted Hunter had a "loving" and "dream" relationship with his wife of more than 50 years and "on that morning she asked him to end her life".

Janice and David Hunter had been together for more than 50 years

Mr Polak said his client was "speechless" and "too tired to smile" after being cleared of murder, adding: "He said he hadn't slept for three or four days, but he is very pleased about what happened.

"He would like to thank everyone who supported him in this case. This is the result he was looking for."

A plea deal, which would have seen Hunter admit manslaughter, was agreed with prosecutors in November but the murder trial went ahead after the Cypriot authorities made a legal U-turn.

The couple's daughter, Lesley Cawthorne, said she was "genuinely stunned" by the verdict.

"My dad's not a murderer," she said. "My dad's never been a murderer. Now everybody knows that. It's just incredible. I can't believe it."

Ms Cawthorne said her father now had a "real chance" of seeing "the light of day again".

"He had almost two years of being a prisoner during lockdown, and then he went straight from that into prison. He's had over three years of his life that have been lived at somebody else's kind of whim."

David Hunter's daughter said he would want to spend time at his wife's grave after 19 months in prison

She said he would probably choose to stay in Cyprus for a little longer "to spend some time with my mum" and visit her grave, which he has never seen.

Ms Cawthorne said Hunter would also need "time and space to acclimatise" before he could be the "best version of himself" and see family again.

She said the past 19 months of his incarceration had been exhausting but now there was "light at the end of the tunnel".

From the court

By Fiona Trott, BBC Northern England correspondent

As David Hunter walked into the courtroom, his friend Barry, who made the journey here from Northumberland, reached out and held his hand.

"Hello mate," he said. "You've got 166 messages of support from people back home."

For a brief moment, the 76-year-old accused of murdering his wife had a smile.

Over the past year and a half, he has been coming to this court hoping he could make the judges understand the sad and sorry situation he was in.

Janice was "sick of life" he told them. He was making nappies for her and she was ashamed to leave the house. She was hysterical because of the pain.

He "loved her so much", he said, but she begged him to end her suffering.

This was an emotional case, but for the judges it came down to one thing. Was this premeditated murder? By discussing a suicide pact, did that mean it was planned?

Today, a judge told the court Hunter wasn't cold enough, not calculated enough to murder his sick wife.

At that point, David Hunter's lawyer looked up at his client and winked. The former miner who came here preparing for a life sentence, then knew there was hope.

As he left the courtroom, the pensioner hugged his legal team and told them he wanted to smile, but didn't have the strength.

David Hunter admitted killing his wife and he will be punished for that, but his daughter Lesley said: "This is the best possible outcome for my dad."

In May, Hunter told the court his wife begged him for five or six weeks to end her suffering.

He broke down in tears as he said he would "never in a million years" have taken her life unless she had asked him to.

"She wasn't just my wife, she was my best friend," he said, adding her pleas became more intense each day.

He eventually relented and suffocated her after she became "hysterical", he said, adding: "I was hoping she would change her mind. I loved her so much."

David Hunter killed his wife at their home in Tremithousa, Cyprus

Hunter told reporters his time in a Cypriot prison was "nothing" compared to the last six months of his wife's life.

Speaking in June 2022, Ms Cawthorne told the BBC her mother had been "in absolute agony" in her final months.

Barry Kent, a friend of Hunter's who has raised thousands of pounds from people in Ashington to help fund legal costs, had travelled to Cyprus to be in court for the verdict.

He said: "I am looking forward to having a beer with him and spending some time with him, whether it is here or back in England.

"To be honest, he needs a good feed. He looked terrible. If we had a meal together we would have a full English.

"He is an absolute shell of himself. When this case started he was a bit more sprightly."