Big dispute & Tension in the Michaela McAreavy murder trial over CCTV footage
For the past month in courtroom number five has homed in on the most minute details of Michaela McAreavey’s final days.
The court has seen her holiday photos. It has heard of the plans she and her husband John made for her honeymoon and retraced her every movement around the Legends Hotel complex.
Even the bikini she wore on the day she died has been displayed and discussed in court.
And yet it came as a jolt yesterday when the lights were dimmed, the room fell silent and the makeshift screen was filled with soundless video footage of a young couple just strolling about, oblivious.
He was well-built, with short hair and a slight limp. His T-shirt was red, his shorts cream, his sandals white. She was dark- haired, smaller, with loose three- quarter length trousers and a striped top. In her hand was a water bottle – it was the hot season in Mauritius back then, of course.
The footage was taken at the entrance to the hotel spa just before 11am on January 9th last year – the day before Michaela was killed. It showed the couple chatting to a staff member for a few minutes before walking right under the camera and out of the frame. There can’t have been a person in the courtroom who didn’t recognise them.
In the first row of the public gallery, John McAreavey had stood up and leaned forward so he could see the screen, but he couldn’t watch. Less than a minute after the first images appeared, he made for the door, his sister Claire not far behind.
It was a dramatic day in court, but it has rarely been more sombre. The crowds were bigger than at any day since the trial began in mid-May – there must have been more than 200 people crammed into the stuffy courtroom – but once they had sprung through the crush at the door, they fell quiet.
Two more clips were shown – both recorded by a camera overlooking the main reception desk at Legends. The first, filmed at 3.15pm on the day of the killing, showed a well-built, bare-chested man in shorts and sandals approach the desk and speak to a receptionist. He waited for about 50 seconds before leaving the frame. Would he agree that this was John McAreavey, defence lawyer Rama Valayden asked Yoosoof Soopun, the head of the serious crime unit that led the murder inquiry.
“Yes. There is no doubt about it,” the officer replied.
Then came the third piece of footage – the one that caused all the debate.
Recorded at 3.02pm on the day of the killing, it showed a man and woman approach the hotel reception and talk to a staff member. He was wearing shorts and sandals – not the same ones as in the previous clip – and she was in a bikini. The woman looked upset – she appeared to push away tears at one moment – and the man’s pose suggested he was placating or comforting her.
Note the time. In court this week, the doctor who carried out the postmortem put the time of death at between 2.30pm and 3pm.
According to the prosecution’s case, Michaela was already dead at 3.02pm. At 3.15pm, we know, John turned up at reception.
And now, as Judge Fecknah interpreted it, the defence was claiming that the couple who showed up at reception at 3.02pm were John and Michaela.
As this footage of the couple at reception played, John and his brother-in-law Mark Harte exchanged brief smiles in the public gallery.
So was it John and Michaela or not? “I am 100 per cent sure that the couple found at the reception at 15.02 is not the McAreavey couple and I am able to confirm it,” said Mr Soopun.
The couple, he said, were Harald Hoyer and Savarese Graziella, Germans who were on holiday at Legends at the same time.
But defence lawyer Mr Valayden kept pressing. What room were the German couple in? When did they leave the hotel? What height were they?
It grew so tense between the two legal teams that the judge was forced to adjourn at one point to take the heat out of it. “I know this is a moment when there is a lot of tension, but everybody please calm down,” he said.
This latest dispute will take time to tease out. Come Monday morning there will be more CCTV footage, more documentation and more people to give evidence.
The trial was to have taken two weeks. Now six looks optimistic.
When the judge adjourned for yet another weekend, John McAreavey brought his forehead to rest on the wooden bench in front of him and shut his eyes tight.
Irish Government’s Sexual health strategy to be submitted by the end of this year
Health Minister Róisín Shortall says
A national sexual health strategy is due to be submitted to Government before the end of this year, according to Minister of State for Health Róisín Shortall.
Speaking on Irish Aids Day at the launch of a campaign by Dublin Aids Alliance to encourage young people to carry condoms, Ms Shortall said: “The Department of Health have set up a steering group who are currently working on developing a national sexual health strategy to be presented to Government by the end of this year.
“I welcome the fact that this steering group is now in place and think that it is a good thing they are working to such a tight time scale.”
The Minister said she was concerned about figures from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre which showed there were 320 new HIV cases reported last year and more than 12,000 cases of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) notified in 2010.
This was a 10 per cent increase on 2009 figures.
“There is no reason for complacency in this area. This figure is far too high and is even likely to be significantly lower than the actual number of cases. This presents a big challenge to the Government and non governmental agencies,” Ms Shortall said.
“We have so much ground to make up for in all areas of activity – promotion, surveillance and treatment of STIs.
“The data we have at the moment is very underdeveloped and our services are underdeveloped also. But we will rise to this challenge and tackle the problem in a number of effective ways,” she added.
The Aids alliance’s campaign will run until the end of September. It seeks to promote condom use among 17-25 year olds through social media, and is supported by SpunOut.ie.
Susan Donlon, manager of prevention, education and training at the alliance, said it was vital they got the message of consistent condom use across in a way that engaged young people.
Some 70 per cent of sexually transmitted infections notified in 2010 were among those under 30 years old.
People can interact with the “Just Carry One” campaign via their Facebook page at facebook.com/justcarryoneor by using their Twitter hashtag: #justcarryone.
Anna Quigley, executive director of the Dublin Aids Alliance, said the number of new cases of HIV diagnosed in 2011 was down 3 per cent on the previous year.
“However, it remains the case that the rate of decrease in new cases has slowed significantly and an estimated 30 per cent of individuals infected with HIV are unaware of their infection,” she said.
Inspirational Teenager Donal Walsh sits exams at home as he fights his cancer
An inspirational Kerry teen is sitting his Junior Certificate at home.
Since being diagnosed with bone cancer almost three years ago, 16-year-old Donal Walsh had to juggle treatment with his school work, while also maintaining a keen interest in sport.
The Tralee CBS student has also been leading a fundraising drive to provide a “teen den” in Our Lady’s Hospital for Sick Children in Crumlin.
During his time in the Dublin hospital, he noticed there was no area where patients of his age group could relax, as the hospital was geared very much towards younger children.
In Sept 2009, Donal, from Blennerville, Tralee, was found to have bone cancer and had most of his knee replaced. He spent a year receiving treatment in Crumlin but the cancer returned last February. Since then, he has had half a lung removed.
Last year, he trained Tralee Rugby Club’s U13 team which won the West Munster League and Cup and he currently trains the club’s U14 side.
A big Munster rugby fan, he built a close friendship with player Paul O’Connell and hopes to study sports management.
Meanwhile, all his focus is on the Junior Cert and he admits to being “very pleased, so far” with the exams.
A Department of Education invigilator collects the papers at CBS, brings them to the Walsh home, and stays with Donal during the exam.
Donal’s parents, Fionnbar and Elma Walsh, praised their son’s spirit and zest for life. “He’s very positive and has a good frame of mind,” said Mr Walsh, manager of the Maritime Hotel in Bantry, Co Cork.
Donal underwent a chemotherapy session prior to the Junior Cert and, being susceptible to infection, had to sit the exams at home.
His sister, Jema, 17, is doing the Leaving Cert in Presentation Secondary School, Tralee.
Donal continues his fundraising for Crumlin, with the help of family and friends. They have collected €10,500 for St John’s Ward and €2,500 for the Make A Wish Foundation.
Legal threat to 700,000 Families in Ireland over non-payment of household charge
The failure of house owners to pay the household charge by 700,000 families could lead to legal action by local authorities.
The Household Charge Management Authority, the body responsible for collecting the €100 charge, says local authorities will have the power to bring legal proceedings against defaulters.
Local authorities are to start issuing reminders next month to some 700,000 property owners who have yet to pay the €100 household charge.
Figures released yesterday by the Local Government Management Agency show that 924,884 households have so far paid the charge, the deadline for which was March 31.
The 2011 Census found there were more than 1.65 million private households in the State, meaning the rate of payment has been some 56pc to date.
Over 670,000 households have yet to pay, while a further 40,000 have paid fines of between €11 and €13 for registration after the deadline.
targets: The figures show the most compliant local authority regions were Dun Laoghaire Rathdown, with 76.3pc compliance, Kerry, 66.3pc, and Clare, 64.2pc.
The lowest rates of payment were recorded in the Waterford City Council (45.5pc), Offaly Co Council (46.9pc) and Louth Co Council (47.9pc).
The latest figures show that €92.9m has been collected to date, with some €70m less than the overall target.
The controversial charge was introduced by Environment Minister Phil Hogan earlier this year and was intended to replace the exchequer element of the Local Government Fund, set up in 1999.
In 2011, exchequer funding for local authorities was €164m.
A spokesman for the Department of the Environment said the revenues expected to be generated by the charge had been factored into the allocations provided to local authorities so far this year.
“If there is a shortfall, some sort of reduction will have to be considered,” he said.
He added that Finance Minister Michael Noonan had said no alternative funding was available.
The agency said it had started analysing data to identify those who had not yet paid.
China sends its first woman Liu Yang into space on Saturday
China has said it will send its first female astronaut Liu Yang into space on today Saturday, when the Shenzhou-9 spacecraft blasts off from the Gobi desert for the country’s first ever manned space docking.
Liu Yang, a 33-year-old major in the People’s Liberation Army who entered the astronaut training programme just two years ago, will take part in China’s fourth manned space launch, a spokeswoman for the country’s space programme said.
“From day one I have been told I am no different from the male astronauts,” Liu, a trained fighter pilot who is married but has no children, told the state broadcaster CCTV in an interview broadcast after Friday’s announcement.
“I believe in persevering. If you persevere, success lies ahead of you,” added a visibly emotional Liu, who was interviewed wearing her blue astronaut’s uniform.
Liu joined the astronaut training programme in May 2010 and was selected as a possible candidate for Saturday’s mission after she excelled in testing, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
She initially trained as a cargo pilot and has been praised for her cool handling of an incident when her jet hit a flock of pigeons but she was still able to land the heavily damaged aircraft.
She and her two male colleagues — mission commander Jing Haipeng, 45, and Liu Wang, 43 — will take off at 6.37 pm (1037 GMT) from the Jiuquan space base in north China’s Gobi desert.
They will perform China’s first manned space docking — a highly technical procedure that brings together two vessels in high speed orbit.
At a press conference the astronauts — who appeared behind a glass wall before a small group of hand-picked journalists — said the manual docking was a “huge test”, but that they had rehearsed the procedure more than 1,500 times.
“The three of us understand each other tacitly. One glance, one facial expression, one movement, we understand each other thoroughly,” said Jing.
The mission to dock with the Tiangong-1 module currently orbiting Earth is the latest step in a plan aimed at giving the country a permanent space station in which a crew can live independently for several months by 2020.
China sent its first person into space in 2003 and has since conducted several manned missions, the latest in 2008, but has never yet included a woman.
Liu’s mission, which has been heavily trailed in the Chinese media, will make China the third country after the Soviet Union and United States to send a woman into space using its own technology, and represent another propaganda coup for the one-party communist state.
China sees its space programme as a symbol of its global stature, growing technical expertise, and the Communist Party’s success in turning around the fortunes of the once poverty-stricken nation.
Xinhua said the three astronauts’ physical state — including their metabolism and moods — would be carefully monitored during the mission to obtain data about the effects of weightlessness on the human body.
All three were in “good and stable condition and preparing for their space journey,” it said.
China was the third country to send humans into space after Russia and America, and it is now also looking into sending astronauts to the moon, although nothing has been set in stone.
A white paper released last December outlining China’s ambitious space programme said the country “will conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing”.
No one has been back to the moon since the last US Apollo landing in December 1972.
But not everyone is convinced — many web users on Friday questioned the decision to plough state funds into the ambitious programme when many Chinese cannot afford essentials such as education and medical treatment.
“I can’t afford to buy a home, see a doctor and pay for my child’s education. Whether we go into space or not really makes very little difference to me,” posted one on the news portal Netease.
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