Michaela McAreavey Trial: Tension Mounts Over CCTV Footage

Michaela McAreavey Trial: Tension Mounts Over CCTV Footage

The speculation had created a near frenzy.

Crowds gathered early outside the Supreme Court in Mauritius intent on seeing for themselves what the much rumoured CCTV footage from Legends Hotel portrayed.

When a gap in specially erected security barriers appeared it triggered a stampede up the stairs and round the open balcony to the wooden door on the opposite side of court room 5.

Dozens surged forward to secure a much-prized seat on the benches of the public gallery. It was like fans late for a football match, though arguably less ordered.

John McAreavey was already inside with his relatives, spared the ordeal of navigating his way through the throngs. The court was designed to accommodate half the 200-odd people that managed to squeeze inside before the door was closed behind them.

They had all come to see one thing. A grainy three minute security camera clip that pictured a couple at the reception of the Legends Hotel seemingly embroiled in a row on the day Michaela McAreavey was murdered.

With some in Mauritius already having conveyed as a fact the man and woman were the McAreaveys, the intense public interest was not surprising.

But inside a rather different story unfolded.

The start of proceedings were delayed by around an hour, merely building the tension in the oppressively warm and cramped court.

A projector had been erected in front of jurors, covering from their view the dock and adjoining witness box.

When judge Prithviraj Fecknah finally did arrive he prompted the defendants to stand.

"The accused parties will be able to come out of the dock and be seated in the court so they can see what's being viewed," he explained.

Surrounded by guards, Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Moneea slowly walked out into the main body of the court and took a position in front of the legal benches. Those too were rammed. It was a day no lawyer linked to the case wanted to miss.

The judge then ordered the lights to be turned out. The only artificial illumination that remained was the glowing blue projector screen and the orb of white shining around the judge's head courtesy of his laptop computer.

The anticipation that the footage was about to start led to the first one or two standing up to get a better view. It created a domino effect, as those whose eye line had been interrupted adjusted their own position.

Mr McAreavey and his sister Claire also got to their feet and walked round to the side of the bench the family have occupied since day one of the trial.

Their father Brendan and Michaela's brother Mark remained seated. At one point he urged his daughter to go up to the front to get a better view. She quietly assured him she was okay where she was.

The hush that fell on court was broken by raised voices at the door as a policeman exchanged words with someone trying to get in.

Mr McAreavey spun round and fixed the culprits with a stare.

The judge too was not impressed.

"Could we have some silence in court and can that door be closed," he said.

The clunk of the internal lock sliding shut rang out around the room as the court went quiet again.

The first clip was not the one that had created all the talk.

It was from the day before the honeymooner's murder and showed a couple, understood to be the McAreaveys, at the hotel spa.

The woman was talking with a staff member, perhaps arranging an appointment, while the man seemed to be doing what many husbands do in such territory - hover around beside her until she's done.

Police witness Yoosoof Soopun said he could not be sure the couple were the McAreaveys. Mr McAreavey appeared in little doubt.

Moments into the clip he turned and quickly left the court, wedging through the few spaces left among those standing in the aisles to reach the sanctuary of the door.

His sister dashed out after him.

They returned at the close of the seven minute footage and remained for the rest of a dramatic day in court.

The introduction of the projector screen had not only required the accused to move, but also prosecution witness police assistant commissioner Soopun.

He had relocated to a table below the judge where the acoustics were very clearly not as good as up on the stand.

Those in the back rows struggled to hear as defence barrister Rama Valayden asked him about the clips.

The solution they found - to switch off the whirring air conditioners - did little to alleviate the cloying claustrophobia.

The witness's voice rose with the lack of background noise, but so too did the temperature.

At one point Mr Soopun walked over to the screen to get a better view; the lenses of his glasses shining back the reflection of the Legends reception in miniature.

Eventually it came time to play the images it seemed all of Mauritius wanted to see.

"Let the record show at the request of Mr Valayden the footage is played to court," the judge said before the sedentary technician clicked the cursor on the relevant file.

The clip started playing at 1500 on the security camera clock, but it took almost three minutes for the couple to enter from the left.

The seconds quietly flicking away on the digital counter at the top of the screen felt like they were elapsing slower than they should.

A gasp might have been expected from the usually vocal public benches when the man and woman appeared, but perhaps because most people had managed to see images of the clip before it was played before the jury, there was hardly a murmur.

The re-engaged air conditioners caused the large projector to billow slightly as the silent exchanges between the animated woman and man played.

Some jurors leant forward, fixed on the screen, others sat back on the leather benches, no less focused.

On the legal benches only Mr Valayden and chief prosecutor Mehdi Manrakhan stood up - like opposing pillars.

The reaction of the family was perhaps telling.

Mark, the only of the four to stand during the clip, shook his head in apparent incredulity.

Mr McAreavey briefly got up to whisper in his ear before sharing another hushed word with his father. He had the hint of a wry smile on his face.

The body language was subtle and understated but it seemed to scream out exactly what they thought about who was, and more importantly, who wasn't in the footage.

Mr Soopun was not in the slightest bit convinced it was John and Michaela.

"I am satisfied the couple found in that photo we have just seen are not the McAreavey couple," he said after it ended.

But more was to come.

"The couple have been identified and I am going to give you a name."

Few inside were expecting German holidaymakers Harald Hoyer and Savarese Graziella to be read out.

The issue did not reach a resolution on the day, with Judge Fecknah telling court the identity of the mystery couple was still to be confirmed with definitive evidence.

More CCTV footage will be broadcast next week in a bid to find out.

With a pressure cooker building inside court throughout the morning, some steam was always going to escape.

The boiling point came during tetchy exchanges across the bar between Mr Valayden and Mr Manrakhan.

The judge acted decisively.

"I am going to rise court and allow the fire to calm down," he said.

When he returned he implored counsel to restrain themselves.

"We believe we're all gentleman at the bar, if there's something to be said you will pass it on in a gentlemanly manner," he urged.

With the court due to return to the thorny issue of the security camera at the Legends reception, tempers may only stay cooled for so long.

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