A British pensioner facing murder charges over the death of his cancer-struck wife on Monday testifies at a Paphos district court.
David Hunter, 75, is accused of killing his wife of 56 years, Janice, 74, at their home in the coastal district’s village of Tala in 2021.
The retired Northumberland miner, denies murdering Janice and his lawyers said she had begged him to end her life.
Janice’s doctor told the court she had a rare blood cancer, but might not have had terminal leukaemia.
The pensioner has admitted killing his wife but a plea deal on a lesser charge of manslaughter collapsed in December and he is now being tried for her murder.
Haematologist Dr Ourania Seimeni said her patient had myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), which was not necessarily terminal.
However, she told the court 30% of MDS cases do lead to leukaemia.
Another doctor who gave evidence, Dr Andreas Pantelides, put the figure at about 45%, which Dr Seimeni attributed to different literature.
The haematologist told the court she could not say how long her patient had to live – whether it was two months, two years or more.
Dr Seimeni said Janice had become increasingly agitated with injections and blood transfusions, which were to help with anaemia, a common symptom of MDS.
The couple moved from Ashington to Paphos 20 years ago.
