David Hunter visited his wife Janice’s grave the day after being released from prison
A retired miner who killed his seriously ill wife has visited her grave the day after being freed from prison in Cyprus.
David Hunter was convicted of the manslaughter of his wife Janice, 74, in an assisted suicide at their home in 2021 and jailed for two years.
The 76-year-old was freed after spending 19 months awaiting his trial.
After her death in December 2021, Mrs Hunter was buried near their home in Tremithousa, near Paphos.
Hunter, originally from Ashington in Northumberland, had been unable to visit the grave as he was admitted to hospital after trying to take his own life immediately after the death of his wife of 52 years.
Image source, Family photograph
Janice and David Hunter had been together for more than 50 years
He was then held in prison before being cleared of premeditated murder but found guilty of manslaughter by a three-judge panel.
He was allowed to walk free within 15 minutes of being sentenced at Paphos District Court on Monday due to time already served and good behaviour.
Hunter could not initially find the grave and was guided to it by Michael Polak of Justice Abroad, which represented him during his trial.
Carrying a bouquet of pink, purple and yellow flowers, he knelt by the grave for about half an hour.
Image source, PA Media
Hunter could not initially find the grave and was guided to it by Michael Polak of Justice Abroad
The couple’s daughter, Lesley Cawthorne, previously said she believed that her father would stay in Cyprus to be near Mrs Hunter’s grave and “say his goodbyes properly”.
Hunter told his trial, which lasted more than a year, that his wife “cried and begged” him to end her life as she suffered from blood cancer.
He said he would “never in a million years” have taken Mrs Hunter’s life unless she had asked him to.
Image source, PA Media
Hunter had not been able to visit his wife’s grave since she died
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”.
Judges heard he then tried to kill himself by taking an overdose but paramedics arrived in time to save him.
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