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20th Apr 2022

Man charged in connection with Michaela McAreavey case

Ellen Fitzpatrick

Another person is being questioned.

A former hotel worker who was previously acquitted has been charged in connection with the murder of Michaela McAreavey.

Sandeep Mooneea was brought in for questioning by officers who were investigating the case in Mauritius yesterday.

Police said today that he had previously been charged with “conspiracy” when he was due to appear in court.

Last month, detectives arrested a former security guard at the hotel where she was murdered.

According to The Mirror, lawyer Vikash Teeluckdharry said that his client Dassen Narayen has been questioned in relation to allegations of theft at the Legends Hotel in Mauritius that occurred around the time the Tyrone teacher was killed there in 2011.

The 27 year old was strangled to death in her room at the Legends Hotel in Mauritius in January 2011 while she was on her honeymoon.

She had married John McAreavey only 10 days earlier when she went to her hotel room and disturbed a burglary and nobody has ever been convicted of her murder.

A spokesman for the Mauritius Police Force said: “Mooneea has been arrested following his interrogation and will appear court today under a provisional charge of conspiracy.”

Narayanen was remanded in custody in March charged with conspiring with another hotel employee to steal a magnetic key card to the room the couple were staying in.

Mooneea and another man were found not guilty of Michaela’s murder after a high-profile trial endured in the summer of 2012 and he has always denied any involvement.

During the initial investigation into Michaela’s death, Narayen was initially charged with conspiracy to murder.

The charge was later reduced to a larceny charge which was then struck out in 2013. His lawyer said that Narayen was questioned about the same charge in March.

He told reporters: “He was questioned under warning. He was detained. He was arrested.”