Michaela McAreavey widower's emotions spill over from public gallery

By David Young in Port Louis, Mauritius – 26 June 2012

The defence lawyer in the trial of two men accused of murdering Tyrone school teacher Michaela McAreavey had earlier told the jury there was no room for emotions in the trial.

Michaela's widower John McAreavey had been listening intently, but he could still not prevent his from spilling over.

On other days in the Supreme Court in Port Louis his short but dramatic outburst might have been drowned out amid other comings and goings in the usually bustling public gallery of court room five.

But yesterday the packed benches were cloaked in near silence as lawyer Sanjeev Teeluckdharry neared the conclusion of his lengthy opening address.

"Members of the jury, have you ever been wrongly accused of something and had no-one to listen to you?" he asked.

"And when you actually get the opportunity to say something, would you do it?

"Accused number one will do that exactly."

The barrister went on to explain how Avinash Treebhoowoon would take the stand to tell the court how he was tortured into confessing to the murder of Michaela McAreavey.

It was a claim her widower has heard before; but perhaps just once too often.

"Lies," he said in exasperation.

He did not shout, nor did he leave his seat beside his sister Claire and brother in law Mark Harte. But the remark still reverberated.

It was the first day the jury had heard evidence for almost a week.

Mr McAreavey, already back on the island of Mauritius where he lost his wife for almost six weeks, was perhaps venting some pent-up frustration.

Treebhoowoon, sitting beside co-accused Sandip Moneea and only feet from Mr Teeluckdharry, struck his customary impassive pose as his much-anticipated appearance in the witness box was promoted by his lawyer.

The barrister had formally opened the case for the defence by acknowledging those most affected by the tragic loss of Mickey Harte's daughter.

"My lord and ladies and gentleman of the jury, we cannot escape from the fact that the late Michaela Harte's life was abruptly brought to an end in Room 1025 (of the Legends Hotel) in the afternoon of 10th January 2011.

"The late Michaela Harte was a daughter to some, a sister to others, she was a wife and most importantly she was our guest in our country.

"Wherever she is, ladies and gentlemen, she is entitled to truth and to justice.

"The question that we are to address ourselves in this court is whether these two accused are guilty of what happened to her."

It was then he made clear that emotional reactions to the honeymooner's death could not factor in the jurors' deliberations.

The six men and three women watched as the lawyer instructed them in how to come at the evidence.

"You must adopt a dispassionate, clinical and forensic approach," he said.

"You have to reject all appeals for emotion and sympathy.

"There's no room for emotion, there's only room for logic and reason."

In his familiar slow, deliberate delivery, the one-time law lecturer went on to pick supposed holes in the testimony of state witnesses that had gone before.

The prosecution case, he insisted, could be summarised by answers he claimed were served up to him on a regular basis as he tried to cross-examine.

"'I can't say, I don't remember, I personally did not do it, I was only acting under instructions, I have to check the records'," he said.

He sarcastically congratulated Inspector Ranjitsingh Jokhoo for being a "helpful witness", claiming he failed to provide information on even the most straightforward issues.

The lawyer was most scathing about the head of the investigation assistant commissioner Yoosoof Soopun, deriding the officer's proud claim on the stand that he had 40 years police experience under his belt.

"Mr Soopun has carried out the investigation in the same manner investigations used to be carried out 40 years ago," said Mr Teeluckdharry.

But his central theme was not police incompetence, it was much more sinister.

"Ladies and gentlemen you have to drive home the point today that a person, even if he's arrested and under detention, he has basic inalienable, fundamental rights," he told the jury.

No policeman, no matter how powerful, could deny someone those, he insisted.

His client, he pledged, would take the stand in the morning to describe exactly how his rights were allegedly trampled all over in a bid to find someone to pin the teacher's murder on.

Treebhoowoon, 31, and Moneea, 42, deny strangling Mrs McAreavey in the luxury Legends Hotel on the holiday island last January.