Patient discharged on count of arson

A psychiatric patient who set fire to hospital curtains has been discharged without conviction.

The woman, who has name suppression, appeared in the Rotorua District Court on Friday after previously pleading guilty to one charge of arson.

Judge Phillip Cooper said that on November 21 last year the woman, then a mental health patient at Rotorua Hospital, used a lighter to set fire to the curtains in her room.

He said when the flames grew she ran and a told a nurse what she had done.

Staff tried to extinguish the fire, which had caught on to books, tissues and wooden fittings, but it was eventually put out by the sprinkler system.

The judge said it was a dangerous situation, as there were 12 other patients and two staff in the unit.

He said he had taken into account she was mentally unwell at the time, having been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

She had no previous convictions and was remorseful.

He noted she was already subject to a compulsory treatment order, which was the recommended sentence.

Judge Cooper made the final name suppression order so as not to risk undermining her recovery.