ONE of the men charged in connection with rioting on the night journalist Lyra McKee was shot dead has been refused permission to go back to his home in Creggan.
Christopher Gillen (38) of Balbane Pass, Derry, is currently on bail charged with riotous assembly, possessing and throwing petrol bombs, arson and hijacking on April 18 last.
At today's sitting of Derry Magistrate's Court a lawyer for Gillen said his client was staying with his parents at Cornshell Fields and wanted to return to Creggan but police were objecting.
A police officer told the court that Gillen had been released on bail on November with conditions attached, including a ban on being in the area near his home.
She said on December 5 an application had been made to reduce the exclusion zone to facilitate Gillen's contact with his children and this had been granted.
She added that police felt an address in Creggan would not be suitable.
The court heard the High Court had permitted Gillen to go in to Creggan over the Christmas period with no issues arising.
The solicitor said there was no reason why Gillen could not be allowed home and that the ban was interfering with the day to day care of his children.
District Judge Barney McElholm however refused the application. Gillen will appear again on February 6.
