Paphos court on Monday will pass sentencing on British pensioner David Hunter who is accused of killing his terminally-ill wife, a test case for Cyprus since his lawyers have said it was assisted suicide.
The court had dismissed charges of premeditated murder, finding the 76-year-old defendant guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter instead.
Hunter admits to suffocating his wife Janice, 74, in a mercy killing at their Paphos retirement home in December 2021.
His lawyers argue that there had not been a similar case in Cyprus before, but courts in other countries, including Australia and the UK, had found suspended sentences appropriate for cases like his client’s.
In closing submissions, the defense argued that Hunter acted spontaneously to end his wife’s life of over 50 years upon her begging him to do so because of her pain.
Janice died from suffocation after Hunter placed his hands over her nose and mouth and then attempted to take his own life with pills and alcohol.
Under Cypriot law, premeditated murder carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Manslaughter carries up to that sentence, but the imposition of such terms is exceptionally rare.
The couple had lived in Cyprus for the past two decades and had, the court said, a loving relationship.
Hunter, in custody since December 2021, had earlier testified that Janice had repeatedly beseeched him to help end her life after her illness deteriorated markedly in the years before her death.
