Brit has confessed to killing his wife while so high on drugs he didn’t recognize his family – World News

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It is alleged that David Hunter killed his terminally ill wife Janice after a suicide pact. The man is understood to have confessed to police while heavily intoxicated

A Briton “confessed” to killing his wife in Cyprus while he was so intoxicated he didn’t recognize his daughter’s voice, they say.

David Hunter’s lawyers are having to challenge the basis of his testimony due to his mental state at the time.

It is alleged he smothered the terminally ill Janice, both 75, in December following a suicide pact.

Her daughter Lesley, 49, told the Mirror: “There are huge question marks over his confession.

“Was he in the right frame of mind to know his right to remain silent and his right to an attorney?

“I spoke to him at the time and he didn’t even recognize me.”

Mr Hunter is understood to have made a confession to police at the couple’s home in Tremithousa while heavily intoxicated.

The ex-miner is believed to have then given a statement in intensive care at Paphos General Hospital before being transferred to sections for 10 days.

He faces a life sentence if found guilty of murder when the trial begins in September. The case was adjourned in Paphos on Thursday.

Lawyer Michael Polak, of the UK legal aid group Justice Abroad, said the accused had been without a lawyer until his indictment
was contacted.

He said Mr Hunter, from Ashington, Northumberland, was dissected before he went to prison.

Lawyer Nicoletta Charalambidou added: “His mental state was never taken into account in the testimony.”

She said it was important to know whether her client understood his rights at the time.

Ms Charalambidou added: “This is a matter that should be considered separately by the court to what extent rights have been granted and properly applied.”

Janice was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2016 and had begged her 52-year-old husband to end her life, Lesley previously told the Mirror.

She would scream in pain due to the agony of her illness.

Sarah Wootton, Managing Director of Dignity in Dying, said: “Our thoughts are with the Hunter family, who are not only mourning the death of Janice, but are also faced with the prospect of life in prison for David.

“Although this case is about Cyprus law, it shows the cruelty and lack of safety in a blanket ban on euthanasia, which also applies to the UK.

“Compassion should not be a crime, but until euthanasia is a legal, regulated choice for people at the end of their lives in this country, it will remain so.”