A 70-year-old man who police say threatened to blow up a Christchurch community housing complex will remain behind bars and keep his name a secret for now.
Parts of the suburb of Sydenham were locked down for several hours on Monday with nearby homes and businesses evacuated.
A 100-metre cordon was put in place by police around the Percival Street address.
The man appeared in the Christchurch District Court on Tuesday via audio-visual link and was granted interim name suppression.
He was facing one count of threatening to damage a building.
The court heard the man contacted the Christian Superstore on Colombo on Monday at about 10.20am, with police alleging he said he "had a bomb and was going to set it off".
About ten minutes later, he called again and allegedly threatened to let off three gas bottles if police got too close to his house.
The man resided at a home owned by the Beckenham Community Housing Trust.
The court also heard details of an ongoing tenancy dispute between the man and the trust's owner, the Beckenham Baptist Church.
Duty lawyer David Goldwater said the church had tried to evict the man multiple times.
Residential tenancy laws had recently come into effect which allowed landlords to end a periodic tenancy without giving a specific reason, Goldwater said.
"This was a cry for help - out of frustration and despair," he said.
Goldwater sought bail for the man, but police argued he was a risk to the community.
Community Magistrate Elder Robati remanded him in custody.
The man would reappear next month.
RNZ has contacted the Beckenham Baptist Church for comment.
