A SALVATION Army hostel resident smashed up furniture after claiming he was provoked by a fellow resident, an Island court was told.

Daniel Woods, a resident at Fellowship House, in Green Street, Ryde, admitted causing criminal damage to bedroom furniture in his room on the evening of October 16.

Concerned fellow residents contacted staff to report what they believed to be a fight in his room, said Liz Miller, prosecuting, at the Isle of Wight Magistrates' Court.

One man who tried in vain to calm the jobless 28-year-old down, was told to go away by him.

As the damage being caused continued, the police were called and Woods was subsequently arrested.

The cost of the damage was estimated at £100 — to plasterboard and a bathroom mirror.

His previous offending record showed he was last convicted for causing criminal damage in 2010 and his most recent offence, of an unrelated type, was in 2016.

For Woods, Henry Farley said his client had been living at the hostel for about two years and had never, in that time, 'kicked off'.

"He regrets 'kicking off' that evening. It was the culmination of bullying and harassment from his neighbour in the room next door," said Mr Farley.

"It is known he goes to bed early at night and he banged on his door and windows.

"My client is a man with quite some problems with his mental health. He was pushed over the edge.

"There was provocation which, that night, culminated in a meltdown."

Mr Farley told the bench Woods was being seen by a mental health key worker and further diagnoses and treatment for him was necessary, but Covid had put it on hold.

"He regrets what he did and is sorry as he values the hostel as a good place in which to live," Mr Farley added.

"It is worth noting the hostel let him back in the next day, following his release from the police station. They know he is not a person in the habit of destroying property.

"The hostel wanted to deal with the matter 'in house', but because the police were involved and he has a criminal record, it was not possible to issue him a caution."

Woods was handed a six-month conditional discharge and ordered to pay the Salvation Army £100 in compensation.