Threatening letters were sent to legal representatives of a man accused of murdering a teenage boy in Limavady and the judge who released him from custody, the High Court heard.
The correspondence, including a sympathy card stating that a barrister was a “dead man walking” are thought to be connected to an associate of fatal stab victim Blake Newland, it was claimed.
Details emerged as another of those charged with the 17-year-old’s murder was granted bail.
Mr Justice Scoffield declared: “We have to resist any attempt to interfere with (applying the law) or influence those decisions by the making of threats.”
Mr Newland was stabbed in the Woodland Walk area of the Co Derry town during a suspected revenge attack on February 2 this year.
Michael McGlinchey (53) of Roe Mill Gardens in the town, and his two sons Andrew (29) and Stephen (27) are all charged with his murder as part of a joint enterprise.
Previous courts heard the victim and two other 16-year-old youths had allegedly assaulted Stephen McGlinchey earlier on the day of the killing.
Police believe the McGlinchey brothers and their father then went to Mr Newland’s home to take “retaliatory” action.
Paramedics were called to the scene amid claims that the two factions became involved in a melee.
Michael McGlinchey was found lying on the footpath and bleeding heavily from severe wounds to his head.
The two youths, who cannot be identified, have been charged with inflicting grievous bodily harm on him with intent.
When police attended the property they discovered Mr Newland on the kitchen floor, unconscious and not breathing, and with stab wounds to the chest and abdomen. The teenager was given emergency medical treatment and rushed to hospital, but pronounced dead that night.
A kitchen knife recovered from a nearby area forms part of the case against the accused.
The court heard police are now investigating the contents of five menacing letters, sent after charges were brought against the McGlincheys and claiming to be from paramilitary organisations on both sides of the community divide.
One signed by “the UVF, UDA and UFF” contained threats to members of staff at the firm of solicitors acting for the defendants.
In May, when Michael McGlinchey secured Magistrates bail to live at an undisclosed location, a sympathy card claiming to be from “the IRA” was addressed to the barrister who represented him.
It stated: “RIP… bang, bang, bang, you’re a dead man walking. We know where you live, we know where you work.”
The District Judge who granted bail to Michael McGlinchey also received correspondence signed by “friends of the Newland family”.
That letter contained veiled threats about what could happen to him if he did not “temper his views on the grant of bail”, the court was told.
With forensic tests being carried out on the card addressed to the barrister, the court was told it is not thought to be linked to any paramilitary groupings.
“Everybody is of the opinion that these various letters have been penned by someone in a close friendship… (with the victim),” defence counsel submitted.
“They are displaying their displeasure that Michael McGlinchey was granted bail.”
As Andrew McGlinchey, also of Roe Mill Gardens, applied for release from custody, concerns were expressed about his safety.
“Tensions still remain high within the community in Limavady,” a Crown lawyer said.
But the defence barrister argued his client has a clear record and faces only a circumstantial case of alleged involvement in the stabbing.
Granting bail under strict conditions for Andrew McGlinchey to stay at a secret address, Mr Justice Scoffield acknowledged that the source of the letters is being probed.
However, he stressed: “It simply can’t be the case that anonymous parties who wish to make threats in this manner can influence the courts in their determination of the grant of bail in a way which is inconsistent with the rule of law.”