British husband to face murder charges after all ( UPDATED )

[memory man]

Briton’s murder trial adjourned after defence lawyers test positive for Covid

The trial of the 74-year-old Briton accused of the murder of his wife in Tremithousa last December was adjourned on Thursday, after both the defendant’s attorneys could not attend the proceedings having contracted Covid-19.

The judge granted the request, adjourning the trial to January 9 – at which date the court will hold a trial within a trial to decide whether the charge of murder as filed will stand, or amended to manslaughter as sought by the defence.

In a twist last week, the charges faced by 74-year-old David Hunter – accused of murdering his terminally ill wife in Tremithousa last December – remained unchanged despite hopes it might be mitigated to manslaughter.

After the Paphos court had adjourned last week, it appeared that the two sides had agreed the facts of the case, which would have allowed Hunter to change his plea from non-admission to murder, on condition that he be charged with manslaughter.

However, in a last-minute decision, the attorney-general decided to reject the change.

According to the case history, in December 2021 Hunter caused the death of his wife Janice, terminally ill with cancer, because he could not bear to watch her suffer.

In his statement to the police and to his brother after the crime, Hunter had claimed that what he did was also his wife’s will, but this was not accepted by the prosecution.

Prosecution attorney Andreas Hadjikyrou cast doubt on whether the killing had been agreed upon, saying that while Hunter may have killed his wife out of pity, that does not mean she had consented to it.

The prosecution says there was no physical or verbal proof of the agreement. It has also argued that accepting this could set a precedent for future crimes on trial.

https://cyprus-mail.com/2022/12/22/brit ... for-covid/

[Kili01]

And so it drags on, poor David Hunter presumably spending Christmas in jail.
Just awful. I wonder how 'absolute proof' of what happened could be obtained?
Just inhumane in my humble opinion.

Dee

[wantoosoon]

Whilst I am a supporter of mercy killing, I do realise that Cyprus, along with most countries including the UK, do not Recognise this in law. If Mr Hunter's story is true then I have great sympathy with him. However, he planned to kill his wife and then carried out his plan. That in law is murder, as it is in the UK. It appears there is no evidence, either written or verbal, that this was her wish. If there was then it could be used in mitigation, but there isn't. So he has to face the charge of murder and the penalty that applies for such acts. In the meantime is is not usual practice to release alleged murders on bail.
If Mr Hunters story is true, then the whole thing is a dreadful situation whereby someone loved his partner so much took the most difficult decision he has probably ever made. If it isn't true, then we have all been sadly misled. Hopefully the truth will come out in the trial.

Thank you. This is all correct. I hope that neither I nor my loved ones ever have to be in this position. People should have access to euthanasia if they wish it. Given certain strict conditions, so should their families.

A dignified death should be a human right where possible.

[Kili01]

I agree entirely. People should have the right to ask for euthanasia, with both medical and legal requirements covered.As owners of an animal one has the right to ask for euthanasia to be carried out by a veterinary surgeon. We have had to witness this being done by our vet, with his agreement in certain cases, where it was necessary to put the animal out of its pain & misery, either due to severe injury or incurable age related illness.
If one can do this legally to a much loved pet, I believe it should also be available for humans in certain cases of severe, incurable illness when linked to old age. If the patient requests this.With the written consent of two medical practitioners, and family members, plus a lawyer.
Dee

[WHL]

I agree entirely. People should have the right to ask for euthanasia, with both medical and legal requirements covered.As owners of an animal one has the right to ask for euthanasia to be carried out by a veterinary surgeon. We have had to witness this being done by our vet, with his agreement in certain cases, where it was necessary to put the animal out of its pain & misery, either due to severe injury or incurable age related illness.
If one can do this legally to a much loved pet, I believe it should also be available for humans in certain cases of severe, incurable illness when linked to old age. If the patient requests this.With the written consent of two medical practitioners, and family members, plus a lawyer.
Dee

We put animals to sleep through kindness, unfortunately there are people who murder other humans for a variety of reasons, most far away from any kindness

[Kili01]

It's time that there was an ethical, legal way for Euthanasia to be carried out if the patient is suffering a severe painful end of life disease.At present this is possible under certain circumstances, by a clinic in Switzerland, but it must be very expensive and difficult to actually get there. In my post I explained that it must only be carried out if all the relevant factors such as expressed wish of the patient, patients family, opinion and written consent of doctors medical, legal requirements are all in order.
Dee

[Firefly]

Who exactly would be responsible for the administration of the necessary mediation to end life?

The Hippocratic Oath is totally against this act, it takes a qualified human willing to carry put the procedure. It's all very well to say we should do this, that or the other, without considering all the facts.

[josef k]

Doctors have helped people over the final hurdle for 100s of years, and continue to do so. Having responsible legislation would legalise this and build in the necessary checks and balances.

[WHL]

Doctors have helped people over the final hurdle for 100s of years, and continue to do so. Having responsible legislation would legalise this and build in the necessary checks and balances.

Both my wife and i were asked if we would like our parents to be resuscitated, while they were in hospital, if they took a turn for the worse, this is doctor speak for, why prolong their suffering if there is no more that can be done, so as Dominic says it happens now,
I remember lying in bed not sleeping all night, because I told the doctors not to resuscitate my mother because i didn't want her to suffer any more, i felt as guilty as sh*t, and still feel guilty, but my siblings all agreed it was for the best.

[Firefly]

A Do Not Resuscitate notice is vastly different, to deliberately administering medication to end life.

If the patient is suffering greatly, and the patient then suffers heart failure, surely that is the body taking it's natural course to end it's suffering.

[Devil]

A do-not-resuscitate order (DNR), also known as Do Not Attempt Resuscitation (DNAR), Do Not Attempt Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (DNACPR[1]), no code[2] or allow natural death, is a medical order, written or oral depending on country, indicating that a person should not receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) if that person's heart stops beating.[2] Sometimes these decisions and the relevant documents also encompass decisions around other critical or life-prolonging medical interventions.[3] The legal status and processes surrounding DNR orders vary from country to country. Most commonly, the order is placed by a physician based on a combination of medical judgement and patient involvement.[4]

Wiki

[WHL]

Came across this,
https://in-cyprus.philenews.com/news/lo ... lls-court/

[Firefly]

I find it odd that he rang his brother to tell him what he had done, and that he had taken an overdose.

[memory man]

I find it odd that he rang his brother to tell him what he had done, and that he had taken an overdose.

Why do you think that as odd?

Please elaborate!

[Firefly]

MM

Why not leave a letter to that effect. I won't elaborate any more than that.

[Uncle D]

I doubt that he was thinking straight at the time

[Kili01]

The whole saga is very sad. An elderly man languishing in jail, who probably thought that he was relieving his poor wife from her terminal suffering. He must be horribly distressed, he tried to take his own life and wasn't thinking straight when he probably rang his brother To say goodbye. He has made mistakes trying to be truthful when making a statement to the police, maybe under duress. So now he will in due course probably die in prison though his family want him to return to them in The UK.
Justice here is to be feared as no mercy will be shown. I remember how the girl who was gang raped in Agia Napa wasn't believed, and it took a major international legal effort to get the case against her dropped.
Yes, different cases and circumstances, but it illustrates the point that no mercy is likely to be shown to British foreigners.

[Kili01]

Yes, Firefly, we understand each other, watching my husband in his terminal stage with his pain and suffering was the very difficult, hard to describe my helpless feelings.He was in the hospice where wonderful nurses and the doctor did their best to medicate and keep him as comfortable as possible.He was very brave. But even with large doses of morphine didn't relieve all his pain and other symptoms.
Having kept various pet animals, I never let them suffer the way a human does.
Which is why I changed my views on Euthanasia, which I still believe should be legal with all the appropriate checks that a law on this would no doubt provide.
Dee

[Dominic]

I find it odd that he rang his brother to tell him what he had done, and that he had taken an overdose.

Why do you think that as odd?

Please elaborate!

I find it odd too. In the same shoes leaving a note would be the best thing to do, for all concerned.

[Kili01]

I don't. I can imagine how distressed this man was, he was unlikely to be thinking clearly, logically or sensibly. He may have also wanted to say a goodbye to his brother before, as he thought whatever he had taken came into effect.
Its easier to pass a valued judgement when you're not under such trauma....
Dee