A British man arrested over the death of his sick wife in Cyprus is no longer facing a murder trial after a deal was reached with Cypriot prosecutors, according to a group working with his lawyers.

David Hunter, 75, is charged with the murder of his wife, Janice, 74, who died in December 2021 at the couple’s retirement home outside the coastal resort town of Paphos, where many of the up to 60,000 British expatriates in Cyprus live.

Justice Abroad, which works to help people navigate foreign justice systems, said the parties informed the Paphos assize court at a hearing on Friday that there had been agreement regarding the facts of the case and that Hunter would be entering a plea to manslaughter on 5 December.

They said they were hopeful the legal moves would lead to Hunter being released from prison and able to return home after the next hearing.

The organisation said it was working with the Cypriot lawyers Nicoletta Charalambidou and Ritsa Pekri to help Hunter, a former miner from Northumberland.

Michael Polak, the director of Justice Abroad, said: “We are very pleased that the murder charge is no longer on the table as our objective all along has been to get David out of prison and back home as soon as possible.

“At the next hearing David’s strong mitigation, such as his good character and long and loving relationship with his wife, will be put before the court. We hope, given the particular facts of this case, and case law in similar cases from around the world, that the eventual sentence is one that the court could consider suspending.

“We thank everyone from the United Kingdom, Cyprus, and around the world for their support of David and his family at this difficult time.”

Earlier this year, Hunter’s daughter Lesley told the Mirror that her mother had “begged him for a long time (to assist her death) and was very clear about what she wanted”.

Justice Abroad said Janice Hunter had terminal blood cancer.