Two men charged with rioting offences in Derry on the night the journalist Lyra McKee was shot and killed have been refused bail.

Paul McIntyre, 51, of Ballymagowan Park in the Creggan area of the city, has been charged with riot, petrol bomb offences and arson of a hijacked vehicle. Christopher Gillen, 38, from Balbane Pass, has been charged with riot, petrol bomb offences and the arson and hijacking of a tipper truck.

McIntyre and Gillen, who were arrested on Thursday, appeared together before Derry magistrates court on Saturday morning. They refused to stand or recognise the court.

The prosecution alleges that both men are connected to the paramilitary group the New IRA, which orchestrated a night of rioting on 18 April in the Creggan area. The New IRA has claimed responsibility for the death of McKee.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland detective told the court that footage seized from an MTV documentary crew provided them with evidence which they allege links both men to the charges. The crew, along with the presenter Reggie Yates, were filming in Derry on 18 April in the offices of the dissident republican-linked group Saoradh and later during the unrest in Creggan.

In the weeks after McKee’s murder, graffiti was sprayed in Creggan warning the community against helping police with their inquiries. The message “Informers will be executed” was painted along the wall of a local community centre, and posters of rats were erected on local speed signs.

The district judge Barney McElholm told the court he had concerns about witnesses being prevented from coming forward. “We’re all aware of the disgraceful graffiti in Creggan that warned off anyone talking to police. Whoever did that, did these two men a great disservice,” he said.

“I have to bear in mind these gentlemen, there’s no evidence either of them belong to any paramilitary organisation but they are a part of an organisation with a defined ideology. There is no address anywhere in this city which would be suitable in this case, at any stage. I will refuse bail.”

Police say more than 140 people have come forward with mobile phone or social media footage in the McKee investigation. A £10,000 reward has been offered by the charity Crimestoppers for anyone with information that leads to an arrest over the killing.