09/07/2012
'Scrap Michaela Case And Start Again'
Police should scrap the murder investigation into Michaela McAreavey's death and start again, according to a lawyer for one of the men accused of killing her.
Sanjeev Teeluckdharry was making a closing statement at the Supreme Court in Port Louis, Mauritius, at the end of an eight-week trial of his client Avinash Treebhoowoon and the co-accused Sandip Moneea.
Mr Teeluckdharry was highly critical of the police investigation, which he said should start again and find the true culprit.
He cited a lack of DNA evidence, the alleged torture of Treebhoowoon and the island police force’s failure to preserve the crime scene.
The trial has also heard that police missed opportunities to interview other guests at the luxury Legends Hotel, where the 27-year-old Mrs McAreavey was spending her honeymoon when she was strangled.
He told the jury that the prosecution's case was like a vegetable "rotten in the inside, infested with worms and maggots and only belonging in the rubbish bin" and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the image of our country internationally can not be mended by condemning two innocent men to hell for 60 years whilst the real culprit is still at large."
Mr Teeluckdharry also criticised widower John McAreavey’s evidence, saying his testimony contained "disturbing elements" and raised doubts.
The widower and the rest of Mrs McAreavey’s family were not present at court.
(NE/GK)
Sanjeev Teeluckdharry was making a closing statement at the Supreme Court in Port Louis, Mauritius, at the end of an eight-week trial of his client Avinash Treebhoowoon and the co-accused Sandip Moneea.
Mr Teeluckdharry was highly critical of the police investigation, which he said should start again and find the true culprit.
He cited a lack of DNA evidence, the alleged torture of Treebhoowoon and the island police force’s failure to preserve the crime scene.
The trial has also heard that police missed opportunities to interview other guests at the luxury Legends Hotel, where the 27-year-old Mrs McAreavey was spending her honeymoon when she was strangled.
He told the jury that the prosecution's case was like a vegetable "rotten in the inside, infested with worms and maggots and only belonging in the rubbish bin" and said: "Ladies and gentlemen, the image of our country internationally can not be mended by condemning two innocent men to hell for 60 years whilst the real culprit is still at large."
Mr Teeluckdharry also criticised widower John McAreavey’s evidence, saying his testimony contained "disturbing elements" and raised doubts.
The widower and the rest of Mrs McAreavey’s family were not present at court.
(NE/GK)
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