David Hunter from Ashington guilty of lesser charge of manslaughter, Cyprus court finds

Janice and David Hunter, who had been together for 56 years. (Photo: family picture)

A former Ashington miner who killed his seriously ill wife has been found guilty of manslaughter.

David Hunter, 76, had been on trial for premeditated murder, but a court in Cyprus cleared him of this earlier today (Friday, July 21) and instead convicted him of the lesser charge.

Janice Hunter, 74, was found dead at their home near Paphos in December 2021 and her husband has always insisted that Janice, who had blood cancer, had begged him to end her misery.

The childhood sweethearts had been married for 56 years and retired to Cyprus several years ago.

A verdict has been returned in the trial of David Hunter in Cyprus.

Mr Hunter’s legal team, led by founder of Justice Abroad Michael Polak, argued the death was assisted suicide because Mrs Hunter was suffering and she asked him to do it.

Mr Polak said: “We are ecstatic with the result today. This is exactly what we were hoping for.

“This gives the court the option of a suspended sentence, which we say is appropriate given the time David has already spent in custody, his age, and the tragic facts of this case.

“Given that this is the first time that a case such as this has been dealt with before the Cypriot courts, we will be putting case law before the court from other common law jurisdictions, such as Canada, New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom, where the courts have decided that a suspended sentence was appropriate in similar circumstances.”

Premeditated murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Cyprus, but all sentences are open to the court for a manslaughter verdict, including a suspended sentence.

Mr Polak added: “This remains a tragic case. Janice and David were in a loving relationship for over 50 years and it is clear that David did what he did out of love for Janice upon her request.

“We strongly believe that no proper purpose would be served by David spending any further time within Nicosia prison.

“David would like to thank everyone for their continued support in this matter which has helped us get to this point today.”

Mt Hunter will be sentenced on July 27 at Paphos Assize Court.

Justice Abroad is appealing for donations to help fund David’s legal support, due the potential for an appeal, at crowdjustice.com/case/help-bring-david-home.