Widower may have to revisit witness box

The widower of newlywed Michaela McAreavey could return to the witness box to change evidence he gave to the trial of two men accused of her murder.

The prosecution is considering asking the court in Mauritius if John McAreavey can be recalled after he indicated he had made an error on the stand.

But lawyers for the two men on trial for murdering his 27-year-old bride at the luxury Legends Hotel on the island have made clear they would object to such a move.

The daughter of Tyrone gaelic football manager Mickey Harte was found strangled in her room in Jan 2011.

The prosecution claims she was murdered by Legends workers Sandip Mooneea and Avinash Treebhoowon when she returned to the room to fetch some biscuits and found them stealing.

On the 13th day of the trial in the Supreme Court in Port Louis, a fellow employee broke down after claiming police forced him to sign a witness statement.

But Govinden Samynaden was then accused by the prosecution of lying to the court about the whereabouts of his long-standing colleague Mr Mooneea at the time of the murder.

The jury also heard from the head of security at Legends, who said the key card that opened room 1025 shortly before Mrs McAreavey is said to have gone in was a “dummy” that had not been officially authorised.

Mohammad Mehtaz Imrit later confirmed another suspect — Legends security guard Dassen Naraynen — was spotted on CCTV walking on a wall close to room 1025 on the day of the murder and was not supposed to be there.

Mr Imrit said Mr Naraynen had been posted elsewhere that morning but had asked to change his position to one closer to the deluxe block where the McAreaveys were staying.

In emotional testimony on Wednesday, Mr McAreavey revealed he offered to get the biscuits for his wife but she told him not to worry because he had already done it for her the night before.

But he was challenged by defence lawyer Rama Valayden — representing Mr Mooneea — who said electronic readings of entries to the room that evening did not tally with his account.

Yesterday, Mr McAreavey’s lawyer Dick Ng Sui Wa said his client wanted to inform the court that he had got the date wrong and the incident actually happened two days before the Jan 10 murder.

“In fact, it was not on Jan 9, 2011, it was on the 8th, and that’s the reason it was not borne out in the room readings,” he explained.

Sanjeev Teeluckdharry, a lawyer for Mr Treebhoowon, insisted that Mr Ng Sui Wa was in court with a watching brief for a witness and so could not admit evidence. Mr Ng Sui Wa said it was not evidence but just a statement.

Judge Mr Justice Prithviraj Fecknah agreed and pointed out that if he wanted the information to be included as formal evidence, then the prosecution would need to make an official motion to court.

Chief prosecutor Mehdi Manrakhan said he would consider the statement before deciding whether to proceed with a motion.

Mr Valayden and Mr Teeluckdharry later told the judge they would be objecting to any such course of action. Mr Manrakhan is due to outline how he intends to proceed today.

Mr McAreavey, 27, was back in courtroom five yesterday, this time to join his father Brendan, sister Claire and brother-in-law Mark Harte in the public gallery.

He had been unable to attend proceedings until two days ago.

Former Legends room attendant Mr Treebhoowon, 31, from Plaine des Roches, and ex-floor supervisor Mr Mooneea, 42, from Petit Raffray, deny murdering Irish and religious education teacher Mrs McAreavey, from Ballygawley, Co Tyrone.