Edward Madden tells of his horror after finding intruder inside the family home

A man who was acquitted for a nightclub murder allegedly smashed his way into a Balmain home of a sleeping young couple, their baby and grandparents, threatening them with knives before barricading himself inside a room.

A dad has told of his fear after a man allegedly terrorised a family by breaking into a Balmain home in the early hours of yesterday morning and armed himself with kitchen knives.

Police said Jason Hristovski — who was found guilty then acquitted of a nightclub murder — burst into the house on Llewellyn St just before 4am and ended up barricading himself in a bedroom with the family’s pet labrador.

Just moments earlier Hristovski, 33, was confronted by Edward Madden, 36, who was staying at his elderly parents’ home with his wife and one-year-old daughter.

The relieved couple and their baby after the ordeal in Llewellyn Street, Balmain. Picture: Dean Asher

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“There was this big man, easily 6ft 1in and over 100kg, smashing into the door,” Mr Madden told The Daily Telegraph. “He started walking up the stairs, he was really paranoid. He kept saying he was being chased.

“He even called the police. He gave them all these random addresses, he was worried about something.

“Then he’s walked into the kitchen, grabbed some kitchen knives and charged back up the stairs. At this point I got quite scared and told my parents to get to the top floor of the house where my daughter was.”

Jason Hristovski is led to a waiting police van by officers. Picture: Dean Asher

Hristovski proceeded to shut himself in a bedroom with the dog. Police had to negotiate with him for an hour before he eventually came out of his own accord.

“Three police were at the door talking to him and he was saying: ‘I’ll shoot you, I’ll stab you’,” Mr Madden said.

He said it was lucky he and his family were visiting from Hong Kong so his parents were not alone.

He was found guilty of a nightclub murder before he was acquitted two years later. Picture: Dean Asher

“My parents are quite elderly, I can’t imagine what would have happened if we weren’t here,” Mr Madden said. “They both had their phones on charge in the kitchen, they wouldn’t have been able to call the police.”

Emergency crews outside the Balmain home. Picture: Dean Asher

Bloodstains on the bedroom carpet.

Hristovski was arrested and taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital under police guard for treatment of injuries which police believe were self-inflicted.

He was one of four men convicted in 2014 over the shooting death of Dragan Sekuljica at a Wollongong nightclub in 2007. Hristovski and another man were acquitted two years later.

Eddie Madden next to the smashed door.

Originally published as Edward Madden tells of his horror after finding intruder inside the family home