Staff at a Taranaki hospital’s mental health ward had to lock themselves in an office when a patient “lost it” and started smashing up a room.

On Tuesday, Ezra Bjorn Stobbart was having a consultation with his psychiatrist and another mental health worker at Taranaki Base Hospital.

It was about 10.15am when the 24-year-old became frustrated and picked up his chair and threw it across the room, police prosecutor Craig Jones told New Plymouth District Court on Wednesday.

Staff members had to leave the room and lock themselves in an office, Jones said.

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Stobbart continued to lash out, smashing a hole in the wall and destroying the chair that he had thrown.

He then went into the foyer and started to punch the safety glass, shattering it with numerous blows.

He continued to hurl items around the foyer and in total damaged three chairs, the wall in the consult room and safety glass.

Stobbart later spoke with police and said he had “just lost it”.

He was charged with wilful damage, to which he pleaded guilty in court.

Defence lawyer Nathan Bourke said Stobbart was “not in a good place” at the time of the offending and that there were underlying issues at play.

Stobbart was not in receipt of any money and would not be able to meet reparation, Bourke said.

Community magistrate Lesley Jensen acknowledged Stobbart was not well but encouraged him to try and have a better handle on his behaviour.

“You need to keep things calm,” she said.

“They need to be able to get on with their work without you causing damage to property.”

Jensen convicted Stobbart on the charge and ordered him to come up for sentence if called upon within six months.

She did not order him to pay reparation.