Daughter begs dad not to kill himself after he suffocated terminally ill wife

Harrowing footage of a daughter begging her father not to take his own life after he suffocated her terminally-ill mother has been played in court.

Lesley Hunter tells her dad David Hunter, 75, ‘you can’t leave me, I’m your girl’ in a heartbreaking call.

British pensioner Hunter is accused of the pre-meditated murder of his wife Janice, 74, at their retirement villa in Cyprus.

He has admitted smothering his partner of 56 years, but says she had been pleading with him to end her life for weeks as she suffered from terminal leukaemia.

After Janice’s death on December 18, 2021, Hunter called his brother William to confess and to tell him he was going to kill himself.

William alerted police and officers rushed to Lesley’s home in Norfolk and told her to call her dad, MailOnline reports.

His daughter tells him: ‘Daddy remember how you walked me down the aisle and you said I was beautiful. I’m your girl. I’m your girl.

‘You can’t leave me. Daddy please, please daddy I beg you.’

Hunter is seen slumped in a chair, but it’s unclear if he had taken anything before the call.

Lesley Hunter told her dad ‘you can’t leave me, I’m your girl’

David Hunter, 74, and Janice Hunter 75, were together for 56 years (Picture: PA)

With police visible in the background, Lesley tells him ‘daddy, forget about everybody else’ and to ‘concentrate on me’.

‘Not on her. Not anybody else, just me and you, daddy, you love me you know you do. I’m your girl’, she says.

‘You’ve always loved me. I’m your girl. I’m your girl, daddy. I’m your little girl.’

A UK police officer asks: ‘Have you taken something David, because we can get someone to help?’

Hunter broke down into tears as the prosecution showed a picture of his wife’s lifeless body in a Paphos court on Wednesday.

Today was his first chance to offer testimony in his trial following his arrest a year ago.

Last month, it looked likely a plea bargain would be struck that would see him released after admitting the lesser charge of manslaughter.

But the attorney general ruled this wasn’t possible as there was no evidence a suicide pact had existed between the couple.

Lesley’s mum was suffering from terminal leukaemia when she died (Picture: ITV)

Hunter is escorted to a custody van at Paphos Assize Court in Cyprus (Picture: PA)

Speaking outside court, Mr Hunter said: ‘I never would have killed her in a million years. She didn’t ask me, she begged me. The last five weeks she was begging me.

‘She didn’t resist. Because of the cancer she couldn’t even lift her hands.’

Euthanasia is illegal in Cyprus and the case has sparked a discussion around it.

The defence is currently trying to argue that five statements Mr Hunter gave to police are inadmissible.

They claim he hadn’t been offered a lawyer at the time, and wasn’t physiologically assessed for three days after Janice’s death.

One statement read: ‘While I was trying to save her by killing her, Janice was resisting and she was holding my hands.’

But it was allegedly written by a Greek officer for Hunter, who has disputed the account.

He told prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou his wife ‘was just lying there’ and there were ‘no scratches’ on his hands.

‘I know I would never hurt my wife’, he added.

The Briton says he ‘can’t remember’ telling officers that he had killed her with his hands to stop her suffering.

He ‘felt like he was trapped in a tunnel’ when medics and police arrived.

The trial continues. The case has been adjourned until next Thursday.

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David Hunter, 75, is accused of the pre-meditated murder of his wife, but claims she pleaded with him to end her life.