Published Tuesday, 15 December 2009
John Bond, 42, was refused High Court bail by a judge who heard him described as an alleged brigade staff member of the rival paramilitary grouping behind the killing.
Mr Justice McLaughlin said English had been selected for assassination during a tit-for-tat feud between two illegal organisations.
He declared: "It just doesn't get to be any more serious than that: it's cold-blooded, it's calculated and it's personal."
Bond, from Mount Vernon, north Belfast, is one of 11 men accused in connection with the shooting of Mr English at his home on the Ballyduff estate, Newtownabbey in October 2000.
The 40-year-old Ulster Defence Association commander was gunned down in front of his wife at the height of a deadly dispute with the rival Ulster Volunteer Force which claimed four lives in five days.
Bond was charged following a new probe by the Historical Enquiries Team, a specialist police unit set up to examine unsolved terrorist murders in Northern Ireland. He denies the offence.
'Supergrass' evidence
The sprawling inquiry is centred on so-called supergrass evidence supplied by Newtownabbey brothers David and Robert Stewart, who are awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to aiding and abetting in the shooting.
Crown counsel Kate McKay rejected any suggestion that the prosecution was "dragging its heels" over the case.
Bail was also opposed due to the widening nature of the investigation into other areas of alleged paramilitary activity.
But Gregory Berry QC, defending, claimed there had been no progress since Bond was last denied bail in September.
He contended that the 11 months his client has been in custody was unreasonable, and predicted any trial may not begin before 2011.