Theatrical air too much for Michaela’s family

After six testing days in court, it was the first marked sign of frustration from Michaela McAreavey’s family.

Claire McAreavey, her sister-in-law, had sat stoically through hour upon hour of often-harrowing evidence, despite regular interruptions from the packed rows of the public gallery behind her.

The most jarring have been the laughs that greeted the often theatrical wrangles between defence and prosecution counsels.