Suspects in murder of Michaela Harte refused bail a second time

Two men accused of murdering Michaela McAreavey (nee Harte) on her honeymoon have been refused bail and their trial has been delayed for a third time.

Avinash Treebhoowoon and Sandip Mooneea will now have their bail cases heard on February 23.

Both men were arrested in connection with the murder of Harte, who was killed in her room at the Legends Hotel in Mauritius, in what has been described as a robbery that spun out of control.

Harte, the daughter of the Tyrone GAA legend Mickey Harte, is believed to have discovered the burglars at work and was strangled in the ensuing struggle. Her body was dumped in a bath, where she was later found by her distraught husband.

The counsel for Mooneea, Navin Bhoyrul, pressed for the arguments of the bail motion to be heard, but magistrate Sheila Bonomaly ruled the court had to listen to arguments on the motion in relation to the disclosure of evidence for what she called the proper administration of justice.

In his motion, Bhoyrul also pointed out that it was almost a month since the first hearing for bail was fixed and he believed the continuous postponement of the arguments was prejudicial to his client.

The prosecution, represented by Nataraj Mooneesawmy, argued that the entire prosecution file did not need to be disclosed prior to the trial stage.

The ruling on the issue of disclosure of evidence will be delivered this week.