The alleged “second in command” at the scene as UDA murals were removed during an ongoing loyalist feud must remain in custody, a High Court judge has ruled.
Mr Justice Fowler refused David Milligan’s renewed application for bail on charges connected to a gathering of up to 60 men in the Weavers Grange area of Newtownards, Co Down.
Prosecutors claim the 43-year-old was one of the “organisers and ringleaders” of the events on April 6.
MIlligan, of Shackleton Walk in Newtownards, faces charges of unlawful assembly and affray.
A number of South East Antrim UDA signs were taken from a property in the estate.
Police have linked the incident to a continuing feud between rival factions in north Down.
Milligan is among a number of men to be charged on the basis of video footage and his alleged recognition by a witness.
He mounted a fresh bid for bail after some of his co-accused secured release from custody.
Opposing the application, a Crown lawyer submitted: “It is the police view, based on evidence at the time and the footage, that this applicant was the second in command on the ground.”
Concerns were also raised about the risk of potential interference with the investigation.
The court heard claims that the central witness in the case has since been threatened and struck with a wheel brace during an attack which required four staples to a head wound.
Joseph O’Keefe, defending, stressed Milligan could not have been involved in any assault or intimidation while in custody.
Disputing allegations that his client played a leading role in taking down placards from the gable walls, he argued that it was others who climbed ladders to carry out the removals.
But Mr Justice Fowler held there was not a change of circumstance necessary to grant bail.
Denying the application, he said: “I am still of the mind that there is evidence that he (Milligan) was an organiser and ringleader in relation to this matter.”