A retired British miner who suffocated his terminally ill wife in Cyprus after she “begged him to” has been released after spending nearly two years behind bars. David Hunter, 76, admitted killing Janice Hunter, 74, his spouse of 52 years, at their home near the coastal resort town of Paphos in December 2021. Ms Hunter had been suffering from blood cancer and the court was told she had “begged” her husband to end her life. Hunter was handed a two-year prison sentence on Monday but was released shortly after the sentencing, having already spent 19 months in a Cypriot prison. Speaking outside Paphos District Court after walking free, a visibly emotional Hunter told reporters: "I can’t describe it. I’m sorry. I wish I could, I wish I could find words to describe it but I can’t. “When you’re under pressure for two years, not knowing which way it’s going to go.” His daughter, Lesley Cawthorne, said she feels her “heart has been put back together” since his release, adding: “Today is the start of us being able to rebuild our lives.” Paphos District Court earlier heard that his motive was to “liberate his wife from all that she was going through due to her health conditions”. During the year-long trial, the court heard it was Ms Hunter’s “wish” to die and that her husband “had only feelings of love for her”. Hunter, from Ashington, Northumberland, told the court that his wife had “cried and begged” him to end her life. He broke down in tears as he said he would “never in a million years” have taken his wife’s life unless she had asked him to. He showed the court how he held his hands over his wife’s mouth and nose, and said he eventually decided to grant her wish after she became “hysterical”. The court heard how he then tried to kill himself by taking an overdose, but medics arrived in time to save him. Following his release, Ms Cawthorne said the last 19 months had been a “living nightmare” for their family. She said: “Today is the start of us being able to rebuild our lives. Dad’s release also means we can finally grieve for my mum, and I hope everyone can respect our privacy whilst we take the time to come to terms with her loss.” She added: “So many people have worked hard and supported our efforts to bring my dad home, too many to mention, but you know who you are and you know you have our deepest gratitude. “The kindness and love of friends and strangers has been the thing that has kept us going, and we can never thank you all enough.” After talking to her father on the phone, Ms Cawthorne added: “Speaking to my daddy was the most amazing thing. I feel like my heart has been put back together.” Giving evidence during his trial, Hunter spoke of a “perfect” 52-year marriage to his wife and broke down in tears as he described the moment he killed her. “For five or six weeks before she died she was asking me to help her. She was asking me more every day,” he said. “In the last week she was crying and begging me. Every day she asked me a bit more intensely to do it.” The court heard from Ms Hunter’s doctor, who said she had a rare blood cancer, while Hunter said she had become progressively more unwell and had no quality of life. Asked by defence lawyer Ritsa Pekri how the last days were, Hunter said: “She was crying, crying, crying, begging, begging, begging. “She wasn’t taking any care of herself. For the last two or three weeks she could not move her arms and had trouble with her legs, she couldn’t balance. “She was only eating soup, she couldn’t hold anything down. She lost a lot of weight. She lost so much weight that there was no flesh to put her injections in.” The Hunters visited Cyprus on holidays and bought a property there in 1999 before retiring there permanently two years later. Ms Hunter is buried a short distance away from the couple’s former home in Tremithousa – a quiet village about three miles from Paphos. In a statement issued after the sentencing, the director of Justice Abroad, Michael Polak, said his client was “very pleased” with the outcome. “The result of today’s hearing, and the court’s previous decision finding Mr Hunter not guilty of murder, is what we have been fighting for in this case, and David is very pleased with the outcome today,” he said. He added: “This has been a tragic case and difficult for all of those involved with it, but today’s decision was the right one and allows David and his family to grieve together.” Additional reporting by agencies Read More Man cleared of murdering wife in Cyprus ‘not getting hopes up’ ahead of sentence Retired miner killed wife to ‘liberate’ her from suffering, Cypriot court hears British man to be sentenced in Cyprus for manslaughter of terminally ill wife

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A federal jury in Louisiana on Wednesday acquitted a white state trooper charged with violating the civil rights of a Black motorist despite body-camera footage that showed the officer pummeling the man 18 times with a flashlight. The case of Jacob Brown was the first to emerge from a series of FBI investigations into troopers’ beatings of Black men during traffic stops in Louisiana and underscored the challenges prosecutors face convicting law enforcement officials accused of using excessive force. After a three-day trial in Monroe, jurors found Mr Brown not guilty of depriving Aaron Bowman of his civil rights during a 2019 beating that left Mr Bowman with a broken jaw, broken ribs and a gash to his head. Mr Brown, who defended the blows to investigators as “ pain compliance,” would have faced up to a decade in federal prison if convicted. Mr Brown’s defence attorney, Scott Wolleson, told The Associated Press he was grateful for the verdict. "The men and women of the jury recognized the risks law enforcement officers like Jacob Brown face on our behalf every day,” he said. Mr Bowman’s attorney, Ron Haley, said the acquittal “shows it’s incredibly hard to prove a civil rights violation in federal court.” He added that the attack had “fundamentally changed” Mr Bowman’s life. “He was low-hanging fruit for Jacob Brown,” Mr Haley said. “Because he’s looked at as just a drug user, he was treated like he wasn’t human.” The acquittal comes as federal prosecutors are still scrutinizing other Louisiana state troopers caught on body-camera video punching, stunning and dragging another Black motorist, Ronald Greene, before he died in their custody on a rural roadside. That federal probe is also examining whether police brass obstructed justice to protect the troopers who beat Greene following a high-speed chase. Body-camera footage of both the Bowman and Greene beatings, which took place less than three weeks and 20 miles apart, remained under wraps before the AP obtained and published the videos in 2021. The cases were among a dozen highlighted in an AP investigation that revealed a pattern of troopers and their bosses ignoring or concealing evidence of beatings, deflecting blame and impeding efforts to root out misconduct. State police didn’t investigate the MrBowman attack until 536 days after it occurred and only did so weeks after Mr Bowman brought a civil lawsuit. It ultimately determined Mr Brown “engaged in excessive and unjustifiable actions," failed to report the use of force to his supervisors and “intentionally mislabeled” his body-camera video. The AP found Mr Brown, who patrolled in northern Louisiana, was involved in 23 use-of-force incidents between 2015 and his 2021 resignation — 19 of which targeted Black people. Mr Brown still faces state charges in the violent arrest of yet another Black motorist, a case in which he boasted in a group chat with other troopers that “it warms my heart knowing we could educate that young man.” In the wake of the AP's reporting, the US Justice Department last year opened a sweeping civil rights investigation into the state police that remains ongoing. On the night that Mr Bowman was pulled over for “improper lane usage,” Mr Brown came upon the scene after deputies had forcibly removed Mr Bowman from his vehicle and taken him to the ground in the driveaway of his Monroe home. Video and police records show he beat Mr Bowman 18 times with a flashlight in 24 seconds. “I’m not resisting! I’m not resisting!” Mr Bowman can be heard screaming between blows. Mr Brown is the son of Bob Brown, a longtime trooper who oversaw statewide criminal investigations and, before retiring, was the agency’s chief of staff. The elder Mr Brown rose to the agency's second in command despite being reprimanded years earlier for calling Black colleagues the n-word and hanging a Confederate flag in his office.

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Mohamed Salah linked with a big-money offer from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad Liverpool looking to complete £34million Ryan Gravenberch signing from Bayern Munich. Manchester United seeking to bolster injury-hit squad. Manchester City expected to finalise £53million signing of Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes. Barcelona duo Ansu Fati and Clement Lenglet could be heading to the Premier League. 0700 Welcome to the PA news agency’s live transfer deadline day blog . The 2023 summer transfer window closes this evening at 11pm for Premier League and EFL clubs while it is midnight for teams in Scotland. In the major European leagues there are various different deadlines today, from 1700 BST in Germany to 2300 BST in Spain, while the big-spending Saudi Pro League can continue buying players until September 7. The likes of Karim Benzema, Neymar, Riyad Mahrez, Sadio Mane and Aymeric Laporte have already swapped Europe for the Middle East this summer and it remains to be seen if they will be joined by any other big names in the coming week. Clubs in the Women’s Super League, which does not kick-off until October, still have a few more weeks until their transfer window closes. Read More Charity boss speaks out over ‘traumatic’ encounter with royal aide Ukraine war’s heaviest fight rages in east - follow live