Hi °C | Lo °C One of the men charged with murdering Catholic community worker Kevin McDaid has been refused bail due to a potential risk to the police investigation.
James McAfee (28) is also accused of the attempted murder of another man and three assaults during a loyalist mob attack in Coleraine.
Prosecutors opposed to his release bid had revealed in the High Court that 24 people were now under death threat due to tensions surrounding the high profile case.
Half of those warned about their personal safety are witnesses, while the rest include men suspected of involvement in the killing.
Giving his ruling on the bail application by McAfee, of Lisnablagh Road, Coleraine, Lord Justice Higgins stressed the harm caused by the alleged intimidation.
He said: “These overt and covert threats are making an already difficult and widespread investigation more difficult.
“There is a real risk that the applicant would align himself with those seeking to impede the investigation and to prevent witnesses giving statements and giving evidence,” the judge said.
