A Dunedin doomsday prepper was apprehended at Dunedin Hospital with a large knife before making threats to kill everybody in the Octagon, the Hospital and the Dunedin Public Library.
On April 18, Michael Richard Renton, 50, called Emergency Psychiatric Services confessing his plans to arm himself with knives in preparation for a fight, the Dunedin District Court heard yesterday.
When he arrived at the Emergency Department he was highly elevated and erratic.
Renton’s random outbursts caught the attention of attending police officers who suspected he was in possession of a weapon.
Hospital staff and patients were ushered out of the waiting room as the man continued shouting and swearing.
While in the cells he claimed he was going to "take a knife to a public place and kill everybody", the court heard.
He named his targets as the Octagon, the Dunedin Public Library and the Dunedin Public Hospital.
In explanation for his offending, the defendant said he was a "doomsday prepper" and the knife was part if his "Stormtrooper kit".
Renton was convicted of possessing an offensive weapon, disorderly behaviour and speaking threateningly — he was sentenced to 12 months’ intensive supervision.
