A man has appeared in court charged with aggravated burglary in Waterford City in the early hours of yesterday morning.

29-year-old father of four Andrew Halligan, of Ardmore Park in Ballybeg, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Speaking in court this morning Garda Gerrard Griffin said Mr. Halligan was arrested at 11.45am yesterday. He was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act at Waterford Garda Station and charged at 9.20pm last night.

He said gardaí received a call from a person in a house in the early hours of Monday morning who said there was a man with a machete and a family were trapped.

The court heard the gardai pursued the suspect as he fled the scene, cornered him in a field but felt for their own safety they could not arrest him at that time because he kept hitting a wall with the machete.

Mr. Halligan has been refused bail on the grounds of the seriousness of the offence and due to previous convictions. He was also on bail for other offences at the time the incident occurred.

He has been remanded in custody to appear in court against next Tuesday.