A patient barricaded himself into a Tauranga Hospital bathroom and claimed he had a booby-trap during a stand-off with police.
The 39-year-old father was holed up as police negotiators talked with him on the hospital's fourth floor from about 4pm yesterday.
The patient spoke exclusively to the Bay of Plenty Times via cellphone during the stand-off, saying he had "a pile of paper and a lot of aerosol cans."
The incident, which lasted more than an hour, unfolded on the same floor as the hospital's children's ward and sparked a full emergency services response, including firefighters and police wearing riot gear.
The man, who identified himself as Ross, told this newspaper during the stand-off that he had no plans to hurt anyone and just "wanted to be heard".
He had locked himself in a bathroom in the orthopaedics ward and claimed he had made numerous complaints about his treatment at the hospital but believed no one was listening. He said he had enough food and drink for four days and was planning on making a stand.
"Police are on the other side of the door of the barricade. I have a booby trap in place. I don't want to hurt anyone, I don't want to hurt myself. I just want to be heard," he said.
"I have made official complaints to the hospital, to police about how I have been treated and to senior management in the hospital and to central government but nothing has happened.
"I am doing this to be heard and for every other New Zealander that has had to go through this and who has had a raw deal from people you should be able to trust. Every single one of those people are on my shoulder at the moment, every one who has had issues and who has had a raw deal.
"I am a normal person and I believe I have been wrongly diagnosed ... I had a three-year hell sentence I lost everything - my wife, everything I owned. I was trying to come to terms with a diagnosis of bi-polar when I didn't feel I had that."
Ross said people needed to be more accepting of people with mental health issues.
Police then forced the door to the toilet area and took him into custody. He was transferred to a more secure hospital ward and police said they would not be laying charges.
Police said the man had threatened to cut himself with a razor and a pair of scissors as well as set the toilet area alight.
Ross had contacted a Bay of Plenty Times journalist hours before last night's incident, to share his allegations and saying he wanted to start his own political party. The paper arranged to speak with him at a later date.
"You are going to write a story about me today," he said. "This cannot be ignored."
The paper had no idea what would later unfold. He called later making further allegations before the stand-off happened.
The Bay of Plenty Times cannot detail any of his allegations due to legal reasons.