Harrowing moment daughter begs dad not to kill himself minutes after he suffocated her terminally ill mum

THIS is the harrowing moment a daughter begged her father not to kill himself just minutes after he’d suffocated her terminally ill mum. Lesley Cawthorne, 49, can be seen frantically video calling her Cyprus-based father David Hunter from her UK home. FACEBOOKDavid Hunter is accused of the pre-meditated murder of his wife Janice[/caption] Hunter’s daughter Lesley begged her father not to take his own life in the moments after he’d suffocated her mother He had suffocated his wife and Lesley’s mother Janice just moments before, and was talking of taking his own life. In the video call, played today in Paphos assize court in Cyprus, Lesley can be heard saying: “Daddy just concentrate on me, Daddy concentrate on me. “Daddy forget about everybody else, forget about everything else concentrate on me, not her, not anybody else, just me and you. “Daddy you love me, you know you do, I’m your girl. You’ve always loved me. I’m your girl, I’m your girl daddy.” The Brit woman starts fighting tears, her voice breaking: “I’m your little girl. Remember when I was in hospital, and you were there in the lift, when I came around. “And daddy remember how you walked me down the aisle – you said I was beautiful. I’m your girl – she says through tears – I’m your girl. “You can’t leave me. Daddy please, please, daddy I’m begging you. Daddy.” Hunter is accused of the pre-meditated murder of his wife Janice, 74, who had been suffering from terminal leukaemia at their retirement home in Cyprus. After suffocating her, he called his UK-based brother William to confess to killing his wife – before saying he was going to take his own life with a drugs and alcohol overdose. William alerted the police who dashed to Lesley’s Norfolk home and advised her to video call her father for evidence on December 18, 2021. It is not clear from the footage whether Mr Hunter had already taken the concoction or was just in shock. David says he suffocated his wife of 52 years because she no longer wanted to live due to the agony caused by her leukaemia. David’s lawyer Michael Polak, from Justice Abroad, said afterwards: “The reason we played the video in court is because it shows David is in a state of shock and doesn’t understand what’s going on around him. “We say that when the statements were taken from him by police he was in no state to be interviewed. “It’s remarkable that the police interviewed him without any psychiatric assessment of him. “There’s no way that if this case had been in the UK he would have been interviewed in those circumstances because police would have got a psychiatric assessment to make sure he’s OK and to make sure the evidence is reliable. “This, along with the fact he didn’t have a lawyer or interpretation, mean that those statements should be excluded from the case.” During today’s pre-trial hearing David, 75, spoke in court for the first time since he was remanded in custody more than a year ago. And he broke down in tears when the prosecution, under cross examination, showed him a picture of his wife’s lifeless body in their home – which he had not seen before. He refuted claims Janice had struggled when he suffocated her, after prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou read a statement from David where he said she had. The statement read: “I went back from the sofa she was sitting on and closed her nose and mouth with both my hands for about 10-15 minutes until Janice died. “I was trying to save her by killing her. Janice was resisting and was holding my hands.” The statement was taken down by a Cypriot detective in the immediate aftermath of Janice’s death. David today insisted: “My wife was just lying there. “Later on I was told she struggled but I know I would never hurt my wife. “My hands had no scratches on them.” Speaking outside court afterwards, David 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.” Prosecutor Andreas Hadjikyrou said David had told police officers on the evening of Janice’s death what he had done. He said: “You told (an officer) ‘my wife has leukaemia and she had too much pain and she asked me to help her not to suffer any more. “‘Afterwards I killed her with my hands.’.” Mr Hadjikyrou also said David had told a nurse he “couldn’t stand to see (Janice) suffer” and that he told police when in hospital: “I killed her to save her.” David said he could not remember saying any of those things. Mr Hadjikyrou said David made a confession whereby the Brit said Janice had told him: “Dave, I do not want to live anymore.” In the same statement, taken in the immediate aftermath, Mr Hadjikyrou said David revealed: “As soon as killed her I kissed her goodbye. “I know what I did to Janice was wrong but now Janice does not suffer and she can rest in peace.” David said he cannot remember making any of these statements. David told the court that when police came to his home in the village of Tremithousa, where he and Janice had retired to, he recalls everything looking “like a dream” after taking “all the drugs in his house”. “When (the police officer) was asking questions all I could see was his face – like a tunnel. “I wasn’t listening because my mind was elsewhere.” David said he did not know anything in relation to his rights as a suspect and that he remembered “very little” from the evening. His defence argues statements taken between December 18 and 21 – the date when he was psychologically assessed – should be thrown out. PAHunter claims Janice had asked him to kill her as her terminal illness was so painful[/caption] PAHe appeared in the Paphos Assize Court today[/caption]