Additional anguish for husband awaiting sentence in Cyprus for mercy killing of spouse
A
retired British miner discovered responsible of the manslaughter of his terminally-ill spouse should wait till subsequent week to search out out his destiny, as his sentencing has been adjourned.
David Hunter killed his partner of 52 years, Janice, to “liberate” her from her struggling, a court in Cyprus has heard.
Janice, 74, died of asphyxiation on the couple’s residence close to the coastal resort city of Paphos in December 2021.
Hunter, 76, from Ashington, Northumberland, was cleared of the more serious charge of premeditated murder last week, however discovered responsible of manslaughter.
As he arrived at a sentencing hearing on Thursday, it was hoped by his authorized group he might have been capable of go away jail this week.
His defence group argued that he ought to be given a suspended sentence, which might enable him to go away jail having already spent 19 months in custody.
But after listening to submissions from each the prosecution and defence, the decide at Paphos District Court stated Hunter won’t be sentenced till Monday.
In mitigation, his defence lawyer, Ritsa Pekri, stated his motive was to “liberate his wife from all that she was going through due to her health conditions”.
The courtroom heard it was Mrs Hunter‘s “wish” to die and that her husband “had only feelings of love for her”.
“There was no personal benefit for him,” Ms Pekri added.
She described Hunter as “a quiet, family man that has never troubled the authorities” and said witnesses spoke of him “looking after his wife during a difficult time of her life”.
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, stated: “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. 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 advised his trial, which lasted for greater than a yr, that his spouse “cried and begged” him to finish her life as she suffered from blood most cancers.
He broke down in tears as he stated 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 nostril and stated he ultimately determined to grant her want after she grew to become “hysterical”.