A man accused of smashing his way into a house to carry out a “vigilante” attack on a male occupant, targeted the wrong property, a court has been told. 

Kieran Joseph Redmond (36), from Sligo Road, Enniskillen, is charged with entering a house as a trespasser with intent to inflict grievous bodily harm on the male occupant while armed with a hammer, as well as damaging his motorbike.

Offending is alleged to have occurred in the Kilmacormick Avenue area of Enniskillen on August 6.

A detective constable told Omagh Magistrates Court the charges could be connected.

He explained at around 2.20am, the injured party and family were asleep in bed when he was awoken by a loud banging noise coming from the front of the house.

Seconds later, two masked males were standing in his bedroom, both of whom were holding hammers.

The court heard one male was particularly aggressive, and on approaching the injured party, asked the second male: “Is this him?”

The second male removed his mask and looked at the injured party, who recognised Redmond, although he wasn’t aware of his name.

On establishing this was not their intended target, the attackers left the house.

The detective said the identity of the suspected intended target is known, and he has been made aware of a threat to his safety.

CCTV footage shows four males arriving at the property, and while two have been identified, only Redmond has been detained, and police are “actively seeking" the rest.

All were seen damaging a motorbike parked outside the house before hitting the front door with hammers, gaining entry.

In addition, when police arrived at the scene, a sock containing snooker balls was also recovered.

Footage showed the men leave in a Mercedes vehicle which is registered and insured to Redmond.

He was arrested and made no reply to all questions during interview.

In response to an enquiry from Deputy District Judge Brian Archer, the detective said: “This wasn’t necessarily organised crime, but we believe the intended target had some sort of sexual interaction with a teenage girl.

"The injured party in this matter is completely innocent."

When asked if this was “vigilantes”, the detective confirmed that is how the incident is being treated.

He also confirmed that when the males realised this wasn’t their intended target, there was no assault, although the victim and his family had been left “extremely unsettled and frightened”.

Objecting to bail, the detective said: “This was a very serious incident and the children in particular are finding it very difficult to sleep or stay at their home, due to a fear of the assailants returning.

"Police have concerns around a risk of reoffending as the intended person was not found.

"There are also concerns around interference with the investigation, and three suspects remain outstanding, who have gone to ground.”

He added the Mercedes vehicle has not been recovered, and Redmond refused to disclose its location during interview.

Defence pointed out this was in the context of legal advice to answer 'no comment' to all questions.

During a break in proceedings, however, Redmond provided instructions to his defence as to where the car was located, which were passed to police.

While conceding the case was serious, the defence urged bail to be granted, stressing the fact the other three males have yet to be located should not preclude Redmond from being released.

However, Judge Archer said: “My concern is this is an active investigation and the intended injured party is obviously still at risk of reprisal for whatever reason.

"The defendant is alleged to have broken into the property with a weapon.”

Redmond will appear again by videolink at Enniskillen Magistrates Court on September 10.