McAreavey Accused Cries In Court

One of the men accused of murdering a Co Tyrone newlywed has told a Mauritius court that he had no choice but to sign a confession.

Avinash Treebhoowoon broke down in tears in court today, repeating claims that he was tortured before signing the documents.

He said police threatened to lock up his parents, send his wife to Ireland as a replacement for murdered Michaela McAreavey, and torture him with heated handcuffs and electrocution.

At one point the judge adjourned court for 10 minutes to let the witness get a glass of water and stop crying.

Treebhoowoon, 31, has formerly said that police investigators on the Indian Ocean island tortured him with beatings on the face and heels, by suffocation and by putting his head in a bucket of water until he vomited blood.

Giving evidence in his own defence today, the former hotel worker said officers had told him they could do what they liked to his loved ones because they ran the government.

Treebhoowoon told the court police threatened to send his wife Reshma to Ireland to live with Mrs McAreavey's widower John, claiming an officer said: "that man's wife is dead, he needs a woman to live with".

He said he was thinking of his family when he signed a full confession statement three days after the murder.

Treebhoowoon and co-accused Sandip Moneea, who worked together in the Legends Hotel at the time of Mrs McAreacvey’s murder last January, deny murder.

The trial continues.

(NE)