A British pensioner is set to plead guilty to the manslaughter of his terminally ill wife in Cyprus as the murder charge he faced is “no longer on the table”, his lawyer has said.
David Hunter has been on trial over the death of 75-year-old Janice Hunter on the island in December 2021.
The former miner from Northumberland admits killing Mrs Hunter but his legal team have argued it was an assisted suicide, not murder.
Mrs Hunter, who had terminal blood cancer, was suffocated by her husband who then tried to end his own life by taking an overdose.
A trial at Paphos District Court was postponed last month after Mr Hunter’s lawyers asked for the murder charge against him to be reduced to manslaughter.
A previous request for a charge of assisted suicide was rejected by the Cypriot attorney general.
At a hearing on Friday, the prosecution and defence announced they had agreed facts in the case and Mr Hunter will enter a guilty plea to manslaughter on 5 December, according to Justice Abroad, which is representing the Briton.
Image: Lawyers for Mr Hunter asked for a murder charge to be reduced to manslaughter. Pic: Lesley Cawthorne
Michael Polak, director of Justice Abroad, said: “We are very pleased that the murder charge is no longer on the table as our objective all along has been to get David out of prison and back home as soon as possible.
“At the next hearing David’s strong mitigation, such as his good character and long and loving relationship with his wife, will be put before the court.
“We hope given the particular facts of this case, and case law in similar cases from around the world, that the eventual sentence is one that the court could consider suspending.”
Mr Polak said he expected sentencing to take place before Christmas and that if Mr Hunter receives a suspended sentence, the Briton will be allowed to return to the UK.
Image: Janice and David Hunter pictured on their wedding day. Pic: Lesley Cawthorne
Speaking before the hearing, the Hunters’ daughter Lesley Cawthorne told Sky News: “It’s making the best – a poor best – of a very bad situation.
“If it’s a murder charge and he’s found guilty, it’s a mandatory life sentence. There’s no wriggle room there. There’s no room for leniency.
“With a manslaughter charge, there is the potential… for them to be more lenient.”
Mrs Cawthorne has said her father insists his wife made clear that she “wanted it to end” because she did not want a “long, protracted death”.
Image: Lesley Cawthorne (L) pictured with her parents at Italy’s Lake Garda in 1988. Pic: Lesley Cawthorne
She said Mr Hunter was “haunted” by memories of her mother “screaming in pain” during her battle with cancer and a catalogue of other health problems.
Mr and Mrs Hunter, who had been together for 56 years and were teenage sweethearts, had moved to Cyprus 20 years ago after their retirement.
Following his arrest, Mrs Cawthorne said her father had been held in a prison cell with up to 11 other men.
Euthanasia is illegal in Cyprus, although the country’s parliament has begun debating changes to the law.
All flights were halted at Edinburgh Airport this morning due to an IT issue affecting its air traffic control provider.
In a post on X, formerly Twitter, the airport later announced service had resumed.
Its post read: “Flights have now resumed following the IT issue with our air traffic provider.
“We thank passengers for their patience and understanding.”
But passengers continue to feel the effects.
A Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Edinburgh was diverted to Dublin after going into a holding pattern over the Scottish capital.
And a live arrivals board on the airport’s website showed multiple flights diverted, delayed and cancelled.
Image: Arrivals board at Edinburgh Airport. Pic: Edinburgh Airport
Morven McCall and Cody Stevenson, both 19, were due to fly easyJet from Edinburgh to Amsterdam on their first trip away together.
Morven told Sky News: “We literally just got into the airport and as soon as we walked through the door there was an announcement that it had been cancelled.
“I was ill over the summer and had to cancel two holidays already, this was our first time going away together. We are just gutted and stressed.”
Image: Arrivals at Edinburgh Airport. File pic: PA
One passenger was on a plane when they found out.
They said: “We boarded our flight and pushed back on time for an 8.45 (am) departure, then sat for a while before the pilot told us what was happening.
“He updated us a couple of times, cabin crew are brilliant at handing out water etc, and I’m surprised that everyone appears to be upbeat. But then you do wonder how long for, just been told we’re hoping to be in the air in 20 minutes.”
Another passenger told us: “The first news was from the airport announcement as we were halfway through boarding, saying the airfield was closed due to air traffic control down.
“No one knew what was going on. We’d already been delayed a bit before boarding, with no reason. I suspect problems started about 9am.”
It comes after an earlier announcement that all flights had been halted.
“No flights are currently operating from Edinburgh Airport,” the previous statement said.
“Teams are working on the issue and will resolve as soon as possible.”
There was no timeframe for recovery initially, Sky News learned.
It’s understood by PA that the issue was not linked to today’s Cloudflare outage.
Edinburgh Trams also posted on X, writing: “If you’re travelling with us to @EDI_Airport this morning, please be aware that flights are not currently operating.”
The airport urged passengers to contact their airline for the latest information on flights.
An average of 43,000 passengers per day use the airport, which is served by 37 airlines flying to 155 destinations.
The police watchdog says it is investigating after a teenager who was tasered by an officer on a motorway was fatally hit by a car.
Logan Smith, 18, was being taken to hospital in an ambulance at about 11pm on Sunday when the vehicle stopped on the hard shoulder of the M5 in Somerset.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said the vehicle stopped on the northbound carriageway “due to the concerns of ambulance staff”.
Mr Smith got out of the ambulance near the junction for Weston-super-Mare and “entered the live lanes of the motorway”, the watchdog added.
Police were called and an officer arrived at the scene, with bodycam footage showing the officer discharging their Taser, causing the teenager to fall to the ground.
“Soon afterwards” Mr Smith was struck by a car travelling on the southbound carriageway, the IOPC said.
The watchdog said it was investigating the “actions and decisions taken by Avon and Somerset Police prior to the death of a teenager”.
IOPC Director Derrick Campbell said: “My thoughts and sympathies are with Logan’s family and friends and everyone affected by this shocking and tragic incident.
“We want to reassure everyone that we will independently investigate all the circumstances surrounding this incident, including the use of a Taser.
“After being notified by the force, we sent our investigators to the police post incident procedure to begin gathering evidence.
“We have taken initial accounts from the officer and ambulance staff involved.
“We met with Logan’s family on Tuesday, to give our condolences, explain our role and to provide some further detail about our investigation, including a Taser being discharged during the incident.
“We will continue to keep them updated and they request that their privacy be respected at such a difficult time.”
The coroner has been informed and formal identification and a post-mortem have taken place.
A former doctor has been charged over alleged sexual assaults on 38 patients in his care.
Nathaniel Spencer, 38, has been charged with 15 counts of sexual assault, 17 counts of assault by penetration, nine counts of sexual assault of a child under 13, three counts of assault a child under 13 by penetration and one count of attempted assault by penetration.
It follows a police investigation into alleged sexual offences between 2017 and 2021.
Staffordshire Police said in a statement the charges come after a complex investigation by the Public Protection Unit into sexual offences at the Royal Stoke University Hospital, in Stoke-on-Trent, and Russells Hall Hospital, in Dudley.
Image: North Staffordshire Justice Centre
Ben Samples, deputy chief crown prosecutor for the West Midlands CPS Complex Casework Unit and Serious Violence, Organised Crime and Exploitation Unit, said: “We have decided to prosecute Nathaniel Spencer for a number of serious sexual offences allegedly carried out against patients while he was working as a doctor – including assault by penetration and sexual assault against a child.
“Our prosecutors have worked at length to support a detailed and complex investigation by Staffordshire Police, carefully reviewing the available evidence to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.”
Spencer, from Birmingham, will appear at North Staffordshire Justice Centre on 20 January 2026.
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