Goodnight sweetheart

David, 76, visits Janice's Cyprus grave for first time

- MATTHEW YOUNG

NINETEEN months after ending the suffering of his terminally ill wife, David Hunter has finally been reunited with childhood sweetheart Janice.

Walking slowly into the cemetery clutching flowers for his love, David, 76, scoured the grounds for her name.

Yesterday was the first time David had been able to visit her grave.

As he finally spotted where Janice lay he took to his knee and bowed his head in the baking heat of Tremithousa, the Cypriot village where he lived with his wife of 52 years.

David, who gave permission for the Mirror to be present during his moving visit, gently placed his flowers before looking up to read the words engraved on a plaque on a small, white cross, which says: "Janice Lesley Hunter.

"Beloved wife of David, beloved mum of Lesley. Goodnight sweetheart".

An emotional David said yesterday morning: "I've wanted to visit the grave for a while but, of course, I felt apprehensive - I knew I would be.

"But then when you see the grave, you really know that she's there and that hurts. I felt very emotional today but I did feel a sense of relief.

"I know it's going to be hard but I feel that she can rest in peace now all of this is over.

"She chose this cemetery years ago, once she knew she was very ill and she was not going to get better. She wanted to integrate fully with the village and this was her way of doing it I suppose.

"This is my home now. My grave is here." David was released on Monday after serving 19 months in Nicosia prison.

He was last month found not guilty of the premeditated murder of 74-year-old Janice in December 2021 but guilty of her manslaughter.

David, a retired miner from Ashington in Northumberland, was handed a two-year sentence but taking into account time served and good behaviour he was allowed to walk free.