David Hunter faces return to prison over mercy killing of wife after Cyprus government launches shock 11th hour appeal
A BRITISH grandad who killed his terminally ill wife after she "begged" him to could face a return to jail.
David Hunter, 76, spent 19 months behind bars after smothering his wife of 52 years, Janice, to death at their home in Cyprus in December 2021.
He was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter after a year-long trial.
Judges handed him a two-year sentence - but he was allowed to return home having already spent so long in custody.
But he could be forced to go back to jail after the Attorney General appealed both his sentence and acquittal at the final moment, reports the .
It is the last day the Cyprus government was able to appeal his conviction as it has now been ten days since the decision.
More on David Hunter
Michael Polak from Justice Abroad said: “We are obviously very disappointed with the Attorney General’s decision to appeal today which gets in the way of David getting on with his life.
"He has spent 19 months in prison and faced legal proceedings over that period that would be difficult for anyone, but especially for someone of his age."
Hunter, from Ashington, Northumberland, smiled as he walked free on July after a gruelling year and a half sting in jail just days ago on July 31.
The tearful retired miner said he "couldn't describe" how he was feeling after being released.
Most read in The Sun
He thanked his friends for their support as he left Paphos District Court after a trial that has lasted more than a year.
After being released, Hunter made an emotional first visit to his beloved wife's grave.
After her death, Mrs Hunter was buried at a cemetery minutes from the couple's home in Tremithousa - a small village near the coastal resort town of Paphos.
But Hunter has been unable to visit the grave as he was admitted to hospital immediately after her death following a failed suicide attempt, then taken into custody and prosecuted for murder.
Carrying a bouquet of pink, purple and yellow flowers, he immediately knelt down by the grave and appeared to be silently shaking.
Hunter previously admitted to using his bare hands to suffocate his wife of 56 years Janice in December 2021.
But he insisted he only agreed to do it after the 74-year-old “begged me for weeks” to end her excruciating pain from advanced leukemia.
In May, Hunter - who has become increasingly frail during the trial - broke down in tears as he relived the moments before Janice died in his arms at their home.
Hunter told the trial that he would "never in a million years" have taken Janice's life unless she had asked him to.
He added: "She wasn't just my wife, she was my best friend."
Hunter showed the court how he held his hands over his wife's mouth and nose and said he eventually decided to grant his wife's wish after she became "hysterical".
He said: "For five or six weeks before she died she was asking me to help her. She was asking me more every day.
"In the last week she was crying and begging me. Every day she asked me a bit more intensely to do it."
After giving evidence Hunter told reporters his time in a Cypriot prison was "nothing" compared to the last six months of Janice's life.
The couple, originally from Ashington, were teenage sweethearts and had been together for more than 50 years when they retired to Tremithousa, a popular village outside Paphos.
Hunter tried to take his own life by overdosing on prescription pills moments after informing his brother, back home, about what had happened.
When police turned up at the villa he was slumped in a white leather chair next to the woman he called the "love of my life".
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Hunter also told the court how his wife’s sister Kathryn had died 30 years earlier from the same disease and how Janice, who had looked after her in hospital, had said: "If I ever have this illness I don't want to live."
