I'M ELATED

Cyprus court clears Brit pensioner of murder on sick wife's mercy killing

- MATTHEW YOUNG

BRITISH pensioner David Hunter raised his hands in joy yesterday as a Cypriot court cleared him of murdering his terminally ill wife.

Retired miner David, 76, was visibly stunned when judges decided there was no premeditation when he suffocated childhood sweetheart Janice, 74, on December 18, 2021.

He was instead found guilty of manslaughter and could be freed when he is sentenced next week.

David left court to be transported back to his cell in capital Nicosia and told the Mirror through tears: "I'm happy - elated." David insisted Janice, his wife of 52 years, had begged him to end her life such was her suffering with blood cancer.

After 17 months in jail, David delivered heartbreaking testimony in May, in the first euthanasia case of its kind in Cyprus.