An application to allow a man currently awaiting trial on a charge of murdering his wife to return to the family home in Donegal has been refused by a senior judge.
Stephen McKinney is accused of murdering his wife Lu Na (35), who died after entering the water in the Lower Lough Erne area of Fermanagh in April 2017.
The couple had been on a boating holiday when Mrs McKinney drowned, and her husband Stephen (44) was charged with - and denies - murdering the mother-of-two.
As part of his bail, the accused is currently residing at Castletown Square in Fintona.
Earlier this year, a trial was held at Dungannon Crown Court, but had to be aborted due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
McKinney - who has been on bail since January 2018 - launched an application to vary the conditions imposed, which would allow him to return to the family home in Convoy, Co Donegal.
The application was objected to by the Crown, with a prosecutor saying that if conditions such as tagging, residency and curfew were removed, it would be impossible for McKinney to be monitored by the PSNI.
Defence barrister Martin O'Rourke QC said that when bail was first granted in January 2018, there was "very little evidence" of how McKinney would behave regarding the impending trial.
Pointing out that his client attended every day of the trial held earlier this year, Mr O'Rourke said it was through no fault of McKinney's that the hearing was aborted.
The defence barrister told Madam Justice McBride: "The position is that his trial is, realistically, not going to occur before the Spring 2021, and there is a very realistic chance that it could be substantially longer than that."
Pointing out that McKinney has adhered to all bail conditions and turned up on time for his trial every day, Mr O'Rourke said "the court is in a position to re-assess the attitude of the defendant more clearly now."
Mr O'Rourke said McKinney was "extremely anxious to have his trial held at the earliest opportunity", adding "he was extremely disappointed the trial had to be aborted."
Madam Justice McBride tpld Belfast Crown Court, sitting in the High Court, that concerns McKinney may not turn up for trial remained a "real and substantial risk" given that he has links to China and has expressed an interest to return there.
The Judge said that due to this risk, and to ensure he does not abscond, she was "not prepared to accede to this application to vary the bail conditions at this time."
After she refused the application, Madam Justice McBride said she would re-list the case for review in November, the Judge expressed the hope that progress will have been made by then to secure a new trial date.