Two men charged with a number of offences following an incident in Strabane on Sunday morning are alleged to have entered a block of flats armed with knives and hatchets in order to seek out a man they claimed to be a paedophile, a court has heard.
Michael Brennan, 26, and Niall Diver, 36, whose addresses were not read out in court, appeared in Dungannon Magistrates Court on Monday following the alleged incident on Sunday morning near Main Street, Strabane.
Brennan is charged with aggravated burglary with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, assault on police, burglary with intent to cause unlawful damage and two counts of criminal damage.
Co-accused Diver is charged with aggravated burglary with intent to commit grievous bodily harm, two counts of assault on police and criminal damage.
A police constable appearing in court said he could connect both men to the charges.
The court heard that police were first called to Riverview House on Main Street in the Co Tyrone town at around 7.30am on the morning of Sunday 9 April, after security personnel for the apartments viewed two men entering with an axe.
It is alleged that the two men moved between flats in the block smashing windows and damaging property within a flat with a number of knives and an axe.
Detective Constable Roberts said an Armed Response Unit was tasked to the scene of the incident.
Both men were arrested at the scene after police say they established that they had entered the building without permission of residents and damaged a number of items in the building.
Brennan was further arrested after police say he attempted to elbow an officer during the course of his arrest, while Diver was also further arrested after he is alleged to have attempted to punch an officer in the face.
While he was detained by police and awaiting medical treatment, DC Roberts said that Brennan told attending officers that he and the co-accused went to a flat in the building to seek a man who he claimed was a paedophile. Police say that Brennan later told them the two men had gone to the wrong flat.
DC Roberts also alleged that Brennan had thrown a glass bottle from a height which narrowly missed an officer below.
Defence solicitor for Brennan, Mark Quigley, indicated there would be no bail application made on behalf of his client.
Defence solicitor for Diver, Eoghan Devlin, made a bail application on behalf of his client, citing a relevant but limited criminal record.
District Judge Michael Ranaghan denied Diver bail based on the likelihood of reoffending, with the pair due to return to court in four weeks time.
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