A man who was "hearing voices" smashed the sprinkler system in a block of flats forcing dozens of people to leave their homes and leaving the council with a £60,000 bill, a court has heard.
Gareth Richards was seen wandering around on the landing on the 10th floor of the tower block talking to himself and attacking pipes.
Swansea Crown Court heard the 44-year-old has mental health problems, and had not been taking his medication at the time of the incident.
Helen Randall, prosecuting, said emergency services were called to a block of flats on Matthew Street in Swansea city centre on the morning of March 12 this year to deal with flooding. Water had cascaded through the building, and 60 residents were left without water, power or heating - their flats being uninhabitable they had to seek emergency accommodation with friends where possible, or be put up in hotels by the local authority.
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The court heard an investigation was launched, and a check of CCTV from the flats showed Richards on the 10th floor landing talking to himself and examining pipework before attacking pipes with a disc-shaped object. He then pulled at the sprinklers on the ceiling near the lifts until they broke.
Miss Randall said the defendant was traced and arrested, and such were the police's concerns about his well-being that two mental health assessments were carried out while he was in custody.
The total cost of the vandalism to Swansea Council - including repairs, hotel bills, transportation and other expenditures - came to £60,000.
Gareth Richards, of Matthew Street, Dyfatty, Swansea, had previously pleaded guilty to criminal damage when he appeared in the dock for sentencing. He has 51 previous convictions for 125 offences including numerous offences of shoplifting, criminal damage, and being drunk and disorderly.
Anthony O'Connell, for Richards, said it was clear from a psychiatric report into the defendant he needed support to tackle his mental health problems, and his abuse of alcohol and drugs. He said his client was remorseful for his actions and their impact, had already spent around three months in custody on remand, and now "wants to put this behind him" and take the help that was being offered by the Probation Service and mental health experts.
Judge Catherine Richards said it was obvious from everything she had read about the defendant that he had a long history of mental health difficulties. She said over the last year - partly as a result of the Covid pandemic - Richards had lost contact with community mental health services, and at the time of the incident was not taking his medication.
She said on the day in question Richards had reported hearing voices and feeling scared, and said it was plain that he was unwell.
Giving the defendant credit for his guilty plea the judge sentenced him to a two-year community order with a rehabilitation requirement, and told him he must co-operate with the community mental health and drug teams.
Judge Richards said it would be wholly inappropriate to make any kind of compensation order for the £60,000 given the defendant's circumstances.
