A retired miner arrested over the death of his terminally-ill wife in Cyprus will face a murder trial after a plea deal was rejected, it has been reported.
Ashington pensioner David Hunter could face life in a Cyprus jail for killing his wife Janice, 75, at their home in Paphos in December 2021 if he is found guilty after the trial. The 75-year-old is alleged to have suffocated Janice, who was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2016, before taking an overdose of prescription pills, however he was found and survived.
Legal teams from both sides had agreed last month to allow Mr Hunter to plea to a reduced charge of manslaughter, down from pre-meditated murder, which carries a ten-year sentence. But this morning the plea deal was thrown out and a murder trial was announced, the Mirror reports.
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It had been hoped Hunter would stand in the dock and plead guilty to manslaughter - a lesser charge which would have spared him spending the rest of his life in prison. Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad, coordinating Hunter's defense, accused the prosecuting side of acting in bad-faith after making the unexpected u-turn.
He told The Mirror: “We are very disappointed by the decision of the prosecution to go back on the agreed facts that they had put forward and which had been agreed between the parties so that the charge could be changed to manslaughter. It is clear the prosecution in this case is attempting to ensure Mr Hunter receives the highest possible sentence and to prevent mitigating factors, which arise from the evidence in the case, from being put before the Court.
"We entered into dialogue with the prosecution in good faith and unfortunately it appears the case against Mr Hunter is being treated like a game by the Cypriot authorities. Getting justice in Cyprus is always difficult as we have experienced in the past in cases of foreign nationals who have appeared here, however we will continue to fight for David, who continues to suffer, to ensure he gets the best possible result in this very sad case."
At the trial's opening in September at the city's district court, Hunter wept as he detailed how his life had changed since losing his "best friend".
He said: "She wasn't just my wife she was my best friend. It’s like a black hole. I used to think I could never imagine life without Janice but it’s just so much harder. I just live day to day. I have to keep my chin up.
"Janice's sister had died from leukaemia and she saw what was coming. She made me promise her if she ever got it to help her. She said I don’t want to go through that. She knew the symptoms and saw them coming."
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