David Hunter murder trial: Court rules that his confession WAS lawfully obtained and is admissable

David Hunter is led away from the courtroom in Paphos.

A Cypriot court has ruled that a confession given by former Ashington miner David Hunter – who is accused of murdering his terminally ill wife – was obtained lawfully and can be used against him.

Mr Hunter’s wife Janice, 74, died of asphyxiation in December 2021 at the couple's home near the coastal resort town of Paphos.

Mr Hunter’s legal team originally tried to get the charge of murder reduced to assisted suicide, claiming his poorly wife wanted to end her life, but the Cypriot authorities refused.

The pensioner's defence team then argued that his confession should be inadmissible as evidence, saying he was not provided with his right to a lawyer or to remain silent before statements were taken from him when he was arrested.

They had previously called a forensic psychiatrist to give evidence, who said that Hunter was suffering from dissociation at the time, and that statements made to medical professionals should be inadmissible against him.

This week a judge at Paphos District Court dismissed the defence's application and ruled that Hunter's statement would be admissible in his trial.

The court found that Mr Hunter, 75, was lucid at the time and aware of what was happening, shown by the fact that he took pills and called his brother after killing Mrs Hunter.

Michael Polak, of Justice Abroad, the group representing Mr Hunter, said the retired miner was "shocked and dejected" at the decision.

He added: “We were surprised and disappointed by the ruling given by the court.

"The right to a lawyer, and the waiver of this right, is very strictly applied in European law which specifically requires that the right to a lawyer must be given clearly in a language that the suspect understands and that any waiver must be both voluntarily and unequivocal.

"In their judgement, the court stated that they did not find any waiver of this type in relation to Mr Hunter. For this reason, we will be applying for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of Cyprus to review whether the law has been properly applied in relation to this point.

"We will continue to do everything possible to fight for Mr Hunter and to protect his right to a fair trial.”

State prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou said: "If we accept this, every other man in the future who kills a woman will say 'we had an agreement'."

Mr Polak said the defence team will apply to the Supreme Court of Cyprus for a judicial review of the decision, which could lead to the trial being paused ahead of the next scheduled hearing on Tuesday March 28.