Man remanded over alleged Laois girl abduction charge
A 35-year-old man has appeared in court in County Laois charged with false imprisonment.
Michael Martin, of Shandon Court in Waterford, was arrested on Thursday after a Republic of Ireland-wide alert over the alleged attempted abduction of a child.
The offence is alleged to have taken place in Cullohill on Wednesday.
Portlaoise District Court heard Mr Martin had told police: "On my uncle Mick's life I abducted no-one."
Mr Martin said: "I was told in the interview room that the question to the girl was would she identify the man and I was told that she could identify no-one."
A police officer told the court he was opposing bail and asked that the defendant be remanded in custody.
Denying bail, the judge said the case was "one of the worst charges to come before this court".
Mr Martin was remanded in custody and will appear again in court on 13 March.