McDaid key witness granted bail

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A witness to the murder of Coleraine community worker, Kevin McDaid, in May 2009 was granted bail as he appeals being jailed for disorderly behaviour.

The High Court judge who agreed to release Peter Neill, 41, banned him from associating publicly with more than two people at any time.

Neill, of Hazelbank Road, Coleraine, was sentenced to four months imprisonment earlier this week.

He was found guilty of causing disorder in the town on Boxing Day 2008.

Neill is one of the main prosecution witnesses in the case against those accused of murdering Mr McDaid in May 2009.

Kevin McDaid, a Catholic father-of-four, was killed by a loyalist mob near his home in Somerset Drive in the Heights area of the town.

Follwing Neill's conviction the district judge who jailed him refused a bail application pending his planned appeal.

But Lord Justice Coghlin ruled that he could be allowed to live at his home address under strict conditions.

The judge imposed a night-time curfew and a ban on alcohol.

Neill was further prohibited from travelling in a private car and ordered to report to police five times at weekends