Irish widower John McAreavey, 27,  broke down in court describing the moment  he found his new bride strangled in their hotel room in Mauritius.

He stated a police officer told him after he found his wife’s body  "What are you crying about? You're young, you'll get another wife."

He said  he fell to his knees and prayed after failing to revive her.

"Michaela was cold...And her lips were blue and I kept on just saying 'Michaela, Michaela, wake up, come on, come on'.

"Then I could see this mark on her neck. I didn't know what was going on, I didn't know what was going on. I was grabbing her and trying to press on her chest and trying to attempt CPR. I don't even know CPR.

"I was just holding her in my arms, telling her to come on, just to wake up."

He said his nightmare began soon after when police obviously believed he was a suspect.
Police took him away to the local station

"Further up the road they pulled in at the side of road and a couple of the policemen got out and they went to side of road to a fast food thing and they got themselves something to eat," he said.

"I could see what was going through their minds," he said.

"They put handcuffs on me and I was sat down on a bench."

"It was for at least five hours, I'm sure, more - actually it was late into the night."
He said he was eventually released

He described his wife as “ a wonderful, wonderful person, a really special human," he said.

"She completed my whole life.

"She was loved by her parents - she was their only daughter. She was cherished by her brothers - their only sister.

"She had so many special qualities that it would be impossible for me to fully explain how a good a person she was."

He said she  was "full of life and full of happiness".

"Anyone who had the pleasure of knowing her or meeting Michaela would give testament to that.

"I do not have the words to fully explain how much she means to me and how much she still means to me and her family."

"She was the most beautiful person I have seen. I've yet to see anyone prettier than Michaela."
His evidence is seen as crucial as state prosecutors in their case against the two hotel workers charged with Michaela’s murder during her honeymoon last year.

A daughter of Tyrone gaelic football boss Mickey Harte, Michaela was found strangled in her room at the luxury Legends Hotel last January, just two weeks after her wedding.

State prosecution claim hotel employees Sandip Moneea and Avinash Treebhoowoon murdered the 27-year-old teacher when she returned to the room at the exclusive beachside complex and caught them stealing.

John McAreavey wore a grey suit and white shirt and sat in the front row of the court as proceedings were delayed for a period.

Reports say the accountant from County Down flew to Mauritius ahead of the start of the trial last month but had been unable to be present at proceedings until he was called as a witness.

He was accompanied in court by his sister Claire, father Brendan and brother-in-law Mark Harte.

Former Legends room attendant Treebhoowoon, 31, from Plaine des Roches, and floor supervisor Moneea, 42, from Petit Raffray, deny murdering the teacher from Ballygawley, Co Tyrone.