British retired coal miner David Hunter who has been cleared of murdering his terminally ill wife in Cyprus but found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter will be sentenced on Thursday.
Janice Hunter, 74, died of asphyxiation at the couple’s retirement home in Tremithousa village near coastal Paphos in December 2021.
Hunter, 76, from Northumberland, admitted killing his wife who had blood cancer but denied murder telling Paphos Assize Court she had “begged him” to take her life because she was in so much pain.
A three-judge panel delivered the verdict last Friday and it is possible he could get a suspended sentence and avoid jail.
In May, Hunter broke down as he testified he would “never in a million years” have killed Janice unless she had asked him to.
Hunter’s confession was deemed as being lawfully obtained and allowed as evidence, despite opposition from the defence.
A deal to reduce the charge to manslaughter collapsed last year after prosecutors demanded proof that his wife had asked him to kill her.
During the trial, a judge also dismissed a request to allow evidence from a psychiatrist who said Hunter was suffering dissociation at the time of the incident.
The court found he was lucid, demonstrated by the fact he took pills and called his brother after killing his wife.
