Brit locked up in Cyprus with expat who killed his wife says it was ‘done out of love’

A British expat locked up with the Northumberland miner accused of murdering his wife in Cyprus has branded the island’s justice system ‘disgusting’.

Owen Williams, 27, spent 16 months with David Hunter and 11 hardened criminals in one cell before he was released last month.

He said the 75-year-old pensioner spoke only lovingly of his wife, Janice, who he killed to end her suffering from terminal leukaemia in December 2021.

Speaking ahead of Mr Hunter finally giving evidence at his trial at Paphos District Court today after more than 20 court appearances since his arrest, Mr Williams pleaded with prosecutors to show mercy.

‘They are trying to make out that David is a danger to society – but the only person that he would ever be a danger to is himself,’ the marine engineer who was jailed for petty arson said.

‘Saying that he’s going to encourage other people to do it is also a load of rubbish. It’s disgusting to target someone of his age in that way.

‘Premeditated murder carries a life sentence – that is a death sentence to somebody of his age.

‘I shared a cell with him for over 16 months and it is very clear whenever you spoke to him that he loved his wife. There is no doubt about it.

‘I would ask that the prosecutors show a little bit of compassion and mercy. Think of their grandparents if they were in David’s position.’

Mr Hunter smothered his 74-year-old wife after she ‘begged’ him to kill her before taking a drugs and alcohol overdose at their retirement home in Tremithousa, near Paphos.

But medics managed to revive him before he was arrested on suspicion of pre-meditated murder – and he has since languished in a high-security jail in Nicosia.

His other cellmates include thieves, drug addicts and a Romanian convicted of manslaughter for killing his drug dealer – a lesser charge than that levelled against Mr Hunter.

Mr Williams, who was sentenced for two years for arson for starting a fire without a permit when he hadn’t taken his bipolar medication, remembers the moment Mr Hunter walked into the block.

‘I remember thinking, “What is this guy doing in jail? He is not a danger to society.”

‘I think he eyed me up as being English – we were the only English guys in there – and he introduced himself saying where he was from.

‘I just said, “Well, what are you doing in here?” He came out with it straight, said what he had done and why he did it.

‘He said how his wife was suffering from leukaemia for four or five years, how she wanted him to help her commit suicide.

‘From the way he described it, it wasn’t malicious at all. When he told me I didn’t feel angry with him, or that he’d done something wrong. He helped somebody that he loved.’

Mr Williams, who moved out to Cyprus 16 years ago to live with his elderly grandparents, added: ‘It took courage to do what he did. You wouldn’t do that for any old person – you wouldn’t make that sacrifice for anyone.

‘I think it was something that was done out of love, not out of malice. He is just a man who wouldn’t bear to see his wife in the condition she was in any more.’

Mr Hunter spent his days sharing stories of how he met Janice when they were teenage sweethearts, remembering their wedding and recalling how proud he was of their daughter, Leslie, 50.

‘By the way he talks about her, when they were younger, you can tell he loved her. He was a good husband and a good father to Leslie.’

He also told Mr Williams of his life down the pit while the marine engineer shared scuba diving stories to beat the monotony of prison life.

But now he fears for Mr Hunter’s wellbeing following his release as there are no other English people in the block.

The 13 cellmates sleep on seven bunk beds and share two toilets – one of which is just a hole in the ground.

They must rise at 8am for a breakfast of boiled eggs and halloumi, before receiving meat and rice for lunch, and the same again for dinner at 3pm.

‘The chicken was always slimy and horrible,’ said Mr Williams. ‘The food quality is terrible and it’s always cold.’

Beyond the cell they have a small yard for exercise surrounded by huge brick walls topped with razor wire.

‘It’s no place for a man of his age,’ Mr Williams said. ‘We would be rotaed to clean out the toilets ourselves.’

Mr Williams, who is fluent in Greek, also helped the pensioner apply to go church for the anniversary of his wife’s death, for Christmas and for her birthday – but it was rejected every time.

Mr Hunter was taken back to his home by police as part of the investigation on the day of his wife’s funeral just yards from the property. When he asked to have five minutes by her grave, officers refused and dragged him back to prison.

‘He’s a tough man, but that got him down,’ said Mr Williams.

But despite the grim existence in prison, Mr Hunter would try to make the best of it, teaching his cellmates how to grow vegetables in the yard.

‘He was giving us advice because he used to own his own allotment in the UK. He taught us how to make compost for tomatoes.

‘When we get breakfast, sometimes we get hard boiled eggs for breakfast. He would keep the egg shells. We get salad with most meals, so he told us to keep the lettuce that we don’t eat, put it in a container and leave it outside in the summer. And in the winter, we’ve got compost.’

When Mr Williams was told he was up for release last month, it was bittersweet. ‘I didn’t want to leave him there,’ he said. ‘I’m not allowed to visit. I suspect he’ll just have his head in his books all the time now.’