High Court rules Lyra murder accused should NOT be granted bail

By Q Radio News

The High Court has ruled that a man accused of murdering the journalist Lyra McKee should NOT be granted bail.

Northern Ireland's Public Prosecution Service had launched an appeal against an earlier decision to grant bail.

Mrs Justice Siobhan Keegan granted the appeal in Belfast High Court, accepting a PPS contention that 52 year old Paul McIntyre, would present a risk of committing further offences if released.

29 year old Ms McKee, was shot dead by dissident republicans while observing a riot in Derry's Creggan area last April. An extremist group styling itself as the New IRA claimed responsibility.

McIntyre, from Kinnego Park in Derry, observed Friday's judgment via videolink from prison while some members of Ms McKee's family watched from the public gallery of the court.

McIntyre is charged with murder, possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and belonging to or professing to be a member of a proscribed organisation.

Noting the threat posed by dissident republicans in Northern Ireland and the gravity of the charges facing McIntyre, Mrs Justice Keegan said the concerns outlined by prosecutors about the risk of further offending were "relevant, sufficient and plausible".

She said those factors outweighed defence arguments that the accused should be released.

McIntyre was originally granted bail by a district judge in Derry but was kept in custody pending the outcome of the PPS appeal.