in-cyprus 13 December 2022 - by Annie Charalambous
A 75-year-old British man on trial for causing the death last year of his terminally-ill wife, Janice, in coastal Paphos is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter on Tuesday.
David Hunter faced a charge of premeditated murder but defence lawyers are hopeful the court will suspend any sentence it hands down to their client after he pleads guilty to manslaughter.
They had asked the island’s attorney-general to charge the 75-year-old only with assisted suicide in order to keep him from serving time in prison — a request they said was denied.
The court had granted an adjournment until Tuesday when Hunter’s defense will also argue for mitigation.
The court is expected to pass sentence a few days later, with defense lawyers hoping that this will happen before Christmas.
Although manslaughter carries a maximum life sentence, it’s unlikely Hunter will receive a long prison term.
Insiders said the prosecution won’t object to the Briton serving out any prison sentence in the U.K.
There is no precedent for such “euthanasia, manslaughter-type cases” in Cyprus.
Janice, 74, died in December 2021 at the couple’s retirement home in Paphos. She was on heavy medication for a type of terminal blood cancer.
