Brit who killed terminally-ill wife makes burger joke as he awaits sentencing
A Brit pensioner who killed his terminally-ill wife in Cyprus said he is looking forward to finally eating some decent food if he is freed from jail next week.
David, 76, will be sentenced on Monday morning for the manslaughter of Janice, 74, his spouse of 52 years, who died of asphyxiation at their home near the coastal resort town of Paphos in December 2021. The pensioner, from Ashington, Northumberland, was cleared of the more serious charge of premeditated murder last week.
He could walk free on Monday if he receives a suspended sentence.
David, who has survived on little more than olives and beans for 19 months in a Nicosia prison, has appeared increasingly frail. After the hearing, he told the Mirror: “I’m in good spirits. I’m ok, I’m still exercising. But I’ll look better after a few hamburgers.”
Mitigating, his lawyer Ritsa Pekri argued David’s motive was to “liberate his wife from all that she was going through due to her health conditions”.
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David Hunter with his wife Janice in Cyprus in 2015 (Albanpix.com)“There is no doubt the accused is facing one of the most serious charges in our law,” she said. But this is a special case. His acts were based on ending the suffering of his wife and his wife’s illness and his acts were based on feelings of love and no other intentions.
“There were no personal benefits from his acts. He only had feelings of love for her. He’s 76-years-old, a calm person, a family man and has never had any problems with the law. He looked after his wife during a very difficult time in her life.”
After hearing submissions from both the prosecution and defence, the judge at Paphos District Court said Hunter will be sentenced on Monday July 31.
David Hunter left the back of the court today with prison officers (Humphrey Nemar)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.
A two-day sentencing hearing was adjourned until Monday (PA)"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."
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".
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