How it happened.. I have blank spaces
Brit accused of murdering sick wife reveals cell torment as trial date set
He looked a lonely old man, prison is not the place for him
LAWYER MICHAEL POLAK ON CLIENT’S CONDITION
AN ex-British miner awaiting trial for the murder of his cancer-stricken wife in an alleged suicide pact has told how he lies alone in his Cypriot cell and wonders how it happened.
David Hunter, 75, told the Mirror he has “blank spaces” in relation to the death of wife Janice in December.
He is accused of her pre-meditated murder, following his lawyers’ failed bid for a lesser charge of assisted suicide.
Janice, his wife of 52 years, was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2016 and had “begged” David to end her life, their daughter Lesley Cawthorne said.
Lesley, 49, of Norwich, yesterday said she feared he will die before his trial. She added: “Everyone I’ve spoken to has told me how frail he looks. He has a history of strokes and has compromised lung function from 40 years down the mines.”
He is alleged to have suffocated Janet before taking an overdose of pills but was found. Ex-colleagues arrived in Paphos district court to support David, formerly of Ashington, Northumberland.
The trial was adjourned until September 19 and judges refused bail. He faces life in jail if found guilty.
His friend Barry Kent, 66, said he had gone downhill since he last saw him in April. Kevin Barnfather, 58, gave him a hug and kissed his cheek as he was led from court.
David told us before the hearing began: “I’m feeling optimistic. It’s not easy, sometimes you’re lying in the bed by yourself, things go through your mind, how it happened. I have blank spaces.” Of conditions in the jail, he said: “I get no trouble from inmates or guards. But it’s boring. My mates have just brought me some dominoes. “There are British-Cypriot prison guards who speak English well. My daughter’s doing a lot. I’m coping OK but I’d prefer to be at home.” After the hearing, Kevin said: “He was skin and bone. He is a shadow of what he was like. Janice was the love of his life.” David’s barrister Michael Polak, of legal aid group Justice Abroad, said: “He remains determined but looked a lonely old man. Prison is not the place for him.”
The couple’s neighbours in Tremithousa, where they retired, also supported him in court.
Petra Kefling, 65, said: “For two years his wife was very sick, with cancer. I remember his wife going three to four times a week to hospital for treatment.
“Her whole body got weaker. I never in my life saw a couple who were so long together and so close.”