Despair and delight

Two men acquitted of murdering honeymooner Michaela McAreavey in Mauritius have expressed joy and relief as their lawyers insisted the real culprit could still be found.

Sandip Mooneea and Avinash Treebhoowon were mobbed by relatives and supporters in chaotic scenes both in and outside the Supreme Court in Port Louis, sparked by their unanimous not guilty verdicts.

Fireworks were let off and chants of “justice, justice” rang out in the packed courtyard as the two former hotel workers emerged, followed soon after by their triumphant barristers carried shoulder high.

Amid the celebrations, lawyers Sanjeev Teeluckdharry and Rama Valayden launched a scathing attack on the Mauritian police team that had extracted a so-called murder confession from Mr Treebhoowon and demanded a fresh probe into the crime.

The newlywed’s husband John was not there to witness the loud and boisterous aftermath of the verdicts, having quickly walked out of court with family members as soon as they were read out.

The nine jurors took just over two hours to find both men not guilty of murdering Michaela McAreavey.

Outside court Mr Treebhoowon embraced his crying wife Reshma. “My wife and I are very happy,” he said.

He also expressed sympathy for the McAreaveys and Hartes.

“I am so sad about the lady. But I did not do this, I did not kill this lady.”

Mr Mooneea wept as he hugged his lawyer Rama Valayden. “I am so happy to be back with my family,” he said. “These past 18 months have been very, very hard.”

Shortly after the trial ended, the Harte and McAreavey families issued a brief statement: “After waiting 18 months in search of justice for Michaela and following the endurance of seven harrowing weeks of this trial, there are no words which can describe the sense of devastation and desolation now felt by both families.”

Mr Valayden compared the case to past miscarriages of justice involving Irish people.

“This is what happens when we rush to find justice, like it was in the Birmingham Six, like it was in the Guilford Four,” he said. “Wherever in the world, when we rush to try to find justice, we always fail.”

The lawyer demanded the Mauritian police’s major crime investigation team (MCIT) be disbanded and a new unit take on a fresh investigation.

“My message to the McAreavey family is: Don’t despair,” he said. “We will find the real guilty persons and I can promise to the Irish nation that I as Rama Valayden, and my friend Mr Sanjeev [Teeluckdharry] will join me, we will continue our effort in order to find the guilty person.”

As he had done during the trial, he highlighted that four fingerprints belonging to neither the two accused nor the McAreaveys were found in the room where the honeymooner was strangled.

He also noted that unknown DNA traces had been recovered on her body.

“All our friends in Ireland, let me tell them again, we promise them we will not leave any stone unturned in order to reopen the inquiry, have the MCIT disbanded and get a new team to inquire so that the truth can prevail.”

Mr Teeluckdharry echoed his counterpart’s sentiments:“We will ask the authorities to re-open this inquiry because the real culprit is still not caught.”

To read more on the Michaela McAreavey murder trial, click here